Pokemon Black and White
by Misaki Amaya
Summary: When White set out on her Pokémon journey across Unova, she never expected the fate of the region to be shoved into the hands of her and her Pokémon. Now she has to bring down the villainous Team Plasma and uncover the legendary beings behind truth and ideals. Easy, right? Not really, but hey, she's not complaining (Much…).
1. The Castle Shrouded in Darkness

**Pokémon: Black and White**

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**Misa: Hello, fellow fanfiction writers/readers! Some of you may know me, most of you may not, but my name is Misaki Amaya. I actually began this story back in 2012, and although I've really enjoyed writing this so far, I went back and read the first few chapters a few days ago and realised how much better I could make them if I rewrote them. This fanfic will contain mild Ferriswheelshipping and Dualrivalshipping, though for this story I'll mostly be focussing on N and White's friendship rather than the romance, which I won't be focussing much on until the sequel. Anyway, without further ado, I present to you the upgraded version of Pokémon Black and White by Misaki Amaya. Enjoy, and remember, I don't own Pokémon!**

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In the depth of a dark palace, everything seemed still. There were a few people in odd outfits wandering around the hallways in the little scrapes of light that was provided from the moon through the large, stain-glass windows at the top of the walls. There were no other windows, so all of the light that entered the hall collected the colours of the windows on the way in, making beautiful shades of pale red, blue and green dance around the room, lighting up what would have been a dim, dull room full of darkness. Not just in the light, either, but darkness as in evil. Darkness that would have overshadowed the few people inside the hall at that moment and turned them into pure evil. Well, they weren't evil now. Just misguided, their original thoughts on the world chewed up and spat out by the manipulator.

None of them knew exactly where the manipulator was right now, but they knew he was probably watching them, his eyes never moving off the actions of the people. No matter what they did, they had to be cautious. One wrong move and… well, they didn't actually know what would happen, but it wouldn't be good. They knew it wouldn't be good. The manipulator was ruthless. He didn't believe in second chances. So they followed him along, like cattle, always following each others' every step, not wanting to run away or else the dogs would get them. The dogs, too, were under the manipulator's command, but they were much closer to them. If the manipulator felt emotion he would probably have liked the dogs. Instead, he just felt satisfaction by what they could do to serve him.

They feared the manipulator more than they feared the real leader of them all. Their would-be king. That was where the manipulator was now. Probably, anyway. None of them knew when the crowning ceremony would be to make their new king the true leader of the place. They were all confused by the manipulator's choice in his king, but they knew he would have reasons. They could never understand the manipulator, but they still followed him despite their constant confusion. Everything seemed to happen too fast for them to figure out, but they just went along with it, never questioning it out loud, but on the occasional day the thought would run through their heads. Why am I here? They would think, but they usually brushed the thought out of their heads before they could overrun what they thought were more important matters.

None of them knew when the crowning ceremony would be. It was not like they would have to be ready for it. They would only have to gather in the hall they wondered around now, all staring at the stage against the back wall as they kneeled on the ground, not daring to move a muscle. Not daring to make a sound other than their nervous breaths as their new lives began.

Still, they waited, standing in the hall as if the ceremony would begin at any moment. Of course, it could begin at any moment, or it could not. The manipulator never told them anything. He was never fond of telling them things like this. He kept to himself. Only him and the boy king knew the time of the ceremony. For all they knew, the two could be in the depth of the castle as they stood in the hall, getting ready and cleaning themselves up for the times ahead.

And as the clock struck twelve, their suspicious were answered as the manipulator himself entered the room, his red monocle glinting in the sun and his uncovered eye squinted. His mouth was planted on a smirk, matching the expression on his dark red eye. It intimidated them to no end, so much that as soon as the doors opened they all dropped to their knees, their eyes not daring to look at him. They couldn't risk it. They couldn't risk their lives. So they waited and waited, until a small path down the middle of the people was cleared and the boy king entered.

-.-.-

Miles from the castle shrouded in darkness, a teenage girl was sitting on her bed, staring at the small alarm clock that sat on her bedside table in her little home in the tiny town known as Nuvema. Only a small candle lit the room, the fire reflecting in her dark blue eyes that would have been darker otherwise. Her long, curly, messy brunette hair that would usually be tied in a ponytail was falling down her back and almost to her waist. She hadn't gotten changed into her pyjamas for the night; instead, she was wearing her usual pair of denim shorts and a white tank-top. Her black, short-sleaved jacket sat in a chair at the other end of the room.

Still, the girl continued to stare at the clock as she had been for pretty much the whole night. The numbers read "11:59", which was one number too many from the time she wanted it to read. She was waiting for her fifteenth birthday, and once the clock ticked over to a new day, she would finally be old enough to have a Pokémon and go out across Unova on a journey. She'd been waiting for that moment her whole life, and now it was so close to happening that she scarcely could believe it. She sat, staring, waiting, not daring to move or make a sound as she counted the seconds in her head. Each one seemed like it had a two hour gap between the next, but she couldn't stop herself from counting. She'd never been the most patient person, but her fifteenth birthday was one of the few days in her life she'd been able to wait for.

And now, she was a mere few seconds from turning fifteen. Her eyes seemed to grow happier with each moment, the fire reflecting from the candle seeming to grow in brightness after each second. Of course, she would still have to wait for the morning when the package containing her Pokémon would be delivered to her house, but she could probably stand it a little more if she knew she was only hours away. With each second going past with the length of an hour, though, she was afraid that the eight or so hours she would have to wait would feel like two lifetimes.

Finally, the last numbers began counting down. Ten seconds… nine seconds… eight seconds… five seconds… one second…

Finally, the clock ticked over, revealing a new day and the dawn of many new adventures. The girl felt like screaming for joy, though she couldn't as her mother, who thought she was sleeping, would hear her loud and clear. Instead, she just settled for throwing an excited punch in the air. She was now _fifteen years old_, the age she would be able to leave the safety of her home and travel the world, unguided, uncontrolled. The day she would be free had arrived, and she could hardly believe it.

Many teenagers would have shuddered at the thought of leaving their families, but not her. She loved outdoors more than she loved anything else. The smell of nature, the feel of a soft wind brushing her face, and the freedom, knowing she could go anywhere, anytime. She wanted that more than anything. She would miss her mother, sure, but she'd prepared herself for the departure a long time ago. Her father, well, that's a story for another day.

Not being able to contain herself any longer, she leaped off of her bed and did a little happy-dance around the room. The words "I will be free!" rang through her head and bounced off of her skull only to echo through to the other side again and repeat. Unfortunately, while dancing (though it looked more like she was trying to pull jeans on than a dance) she managed to crash into her bookshelf and send a pile of books crashing to the ground. She leaped back, taking a karate stance like some unknown alien species had just entered her room. However, what sounded in her room wasn't an alien's voice. Instead it was her mother's. _Much _worse than an alien.

"White, I know it's your birthday and all, but please, go to sleep! There are other people in this house too!"

"Sorry, mum…"

White sighed, flopping herself back down on her bed. With one last yawn, she stared at the candle on her bedside table and blinked, staring at the fire that signalled her new life. With one last breath, she gave it a soft blow before closing her eyes.

"Happy birthday to me…" she yawned, watching the last ember at the tip of the candle fizzle out, before falling into a deep sleep.

However, the sleep was overrun with dreams of a certain manipulator and the new king.

-.-.-

His green eyes burned with determined fire. His tea-green hair fell down his back in a shaggy ponytail, rather out of place compared to his expression. He didn't dare look at the people kneeling around him as he walked down the aisle. His eyes were instead planted on the manipulator, but he did not yet know that he was a manipulator. Instead, he looked up at him like a guardian, a father, ready to help him if anything went wrong.

The manipulator, however, thought very different of the young king. The boy was just seventeen, only a few years until he would be sworn into fully-fledged adulthood. He wondered what he was getting himself into, and for the first time since adopting the boy he had a sliver of doubt crossing his mind. He disregarded it quickly, however. He'd done too much work on this boy, wasting his time bringing him up and raising him in a half-decent environment. Besides, he wouldn't fail. He _never _failed. He gave himself a firm nod to reassure himself. He was the manipulator. He made the rules.

And besides, the boy followed him obediently. When he'd told him when the crowning ceremony would be, he didn't refuse. Rather, he looked excited for his future kingship. The boy was a kind-hearted soul in a way. The innocence fuelled his mind, pushing him along. The innocence reflected in his eyes, though at that moment it was covered with overwhelming desire to change the world. That innocence had been taken away. For the time being, anyway, but as soon as he got away from the manipulator then he would be back to his innocent, curious, somewhat straight-forward self. He wasn't good at keeping secrets. He tended to blurt things out without thinking about them. He didn't know what he was doing wrong, though. Perhaps he never would.

Following the new king were six people; the "dogs", all dressed in similar clothes to the manipulator; patterned robes that trailed across the ground, each one a different colour. They all looked quite regal, though none as regal as the young king, who was wearing a bright white robe with a long train which was held up by the people following him. They couldn't let it drag along the ground at any cost, or else they would face the anger of the manipulator.

The train of the young king's robe detached from the rest of his clothes when he stepped up the stairs onto the stage to stand before his subjects, who were still kneeling to the ground. Their feet hurt from having to stay in the position for such a long time, and their necks were starting to cramp from bowing their heads down, but none of them moved. None of them would even dare. The six people holding the train folded the long piece of pure white material into a neat pile before handing it to the furthermost person, who was wearing purple robes. He seemed somewhat more confident than the others, a clean smirk plastered across his face rather than the nervous straight mouths planted on everyone else's.

Finally, the manipulator raised a hand to silence any nervous whispers from the crowd, which obeyed at once, not even questioning the man's desire. The manipulator smirked satisfactorily, raising his hands to signal for them to stand up. They followed with a little hesitation, though they all still managed to stand up in perfect sync, knowing that the man before them wouldn't accept anything less than perfect.

The manipulator turned to the young king, who turned to him, too. The two exchanged glances, the older of the two being slightly more intimidating than the other, but the king didn't think anything by it. If he did, he didn't show it. He knew the manipulator would not accept it if he showed any signs of hesitation. Instead, he stayed perfectly still, not an expression on his face. Surprisingly, even to the to-be-king, the manipulator knelt down on one knee, much in the opposite fashion to the previous way he had acted. It was even somewhat gracefully, which didn't match the thoughts going through his head or the expression in his cold, hard eyes. His hand, which had previously been folded into his robe, pulled out a crown. It was magnificent, shining even in the limited light that the stain-glass-windows provided, the gold reflecting off of it and making the features on the top of it even more distinguished.

With one slow movement, time seemed to stand still as the crown was raised to be placed on the boy's head, signalling the end of his childhood innocence. The end of the endless days of playing with his friends and a carefree nature. As the crown was placed on his head, a new level of responsibility was held in place for the king. Could he handle it? Even he was slightly unsure.

But when he raised a hand to address his new subjects for the first time, he knew in his heart that he had to change the world.

-.-.-

Back at Nuvema Town, dark blue eyes were beginning to open in their new fifteen-year-old body. White's vision was blurred as her eyes squinted in effort to take in the new-found light that flooded into the room through the wide-open window next to her bed. A soft breeze pushed through the gap, caressing her face as it swept by. It was a beautiful start to a beautiful day and nothing would ruin it.

Except for the reoccurring thoughts that flew through her mind on a specific dream. The dream about the manipulator and the young king. She didn't know what it meant, or why she was having the dream at all. It seemed too _real_ to be a dream. The visions were so clear. She could see every little detail on the crown that was placed upon the boy's head. She could see the look in the eye of the man who'd crowned him. It was somewhat… intimidating.

However, after a few more seconds of pondering on the thought, she shook her head vigorously. It was her birthday. She could consider dream and disturbing things on another day. Yawning loudly, she stood up, stretching her arms as high as they could go and groaning in pleasure. Waking up wasn't usually easy for her, but on a day like today waking up was probably the easiest thing to do. Rushing into the bathroom, she tied her hair up into a quick, messy ponytail without even looking at the brush on the side of the sink that had only been used once or twice. She didn't have time to do her hair.

"Presents…" she muttered excitedly, kicking open the door to the bathroom and rushing out down the stairs, almost tripping and face-planting as she did so. Maybe staying up all night waiting for the clock to strike twelve wasn't the best idea. Whatever, at least she'd gotten some sleep, right?

She skipped the last few steps and landed neatly on the ground, rushing into the kitchen where her mother was already making breakfast. She took a seat at the stool on the kitchen counter, her feet waving absentmindedly and impatiently below her. Finally, as if torturing her by ignoring her for as long as possible, White's mother turned around and greeted her daughter with a beaming smile.

"Happy birthday, honey," she chirped, rushing up to her daughter and pulling her into a tight Beartic-hug. White groaned, trying to catch the breath that had been immediately pushed out of her when the arms had wrapped her up like a present.

"M-mum, personal s-space!" she choked. Her mother let go of her immediately.

"Sorry, but I just can't believe my daughter is fifteen!"

White rolled her eyes. "At least you're not one of those mothers that will burst into tears every time I turn an age." She shrugged. "It's just another day. I just happen to be a year older now, though. Heck, yesterday I was three-hundred and sixty-four days older than I was last year. No biggie." She smirked. "But I do get presents…"

"Well, we'll have to wait for Cheren and Bianca to get here before you can eat anything, I'm sorry," explained the woman as White made a grab for the steaming-hot, freshly-cooked pancakes sitting a mere metre away from her.

White pouted. "Fine…" she grumbled. Her mother chuckled.

"Don't worry about it, they'll be here soon."

"Cheren will. I'll be surprised if Bianca gets here by Christmas," said White, and the two laughed quietly.

Cheren and Bianca were White's two best friends. If she had the choice, she probably wouldn't have chosen to befriend the two at first sight, as they certainly weren't the most normal pair. Bianca was flighty, happy and could never sit still. She always seemed to fidget and walking definitely wasn't an option. She seemed to have a mind of her own. Heck, White wasn't even sure if she knew where the region of Unova was as she always lived in fairy-land.

Cheren, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Bianca. He was serious, logical and somewhat dull. To him, everything always had a logical explanation. Everything except the fact that he seemed to have the inability to smile, which was something that White didn't, and despite knowing him for ten years, would probably never know. Either way, the two were always there for her through thick and thin, even if Cheren wasn't good at comforting people and Bianca was a little _too _good at comforting people.

At that point, a knock at the door was heard, and White leaped off of her stool yelling, "I'll get it!" as she rushed over to the door. If it was Bianca who she'd opened the door to then she would have been very surprised. As expected, however, she opened the door to the tall, black-haired, spectacled boy that was Cheren. In his hands he held a large package with a note attached to it.

"I think you know what this is, but I'll explain it anyway," he said, not even addressing the brunette as he entered the house. "These are the Pokémon that Professor Juniper is giving us now that we're _all_ fifteen."

"Yeah, sorry about you having to wait for me to age up…" muttered White, scratching the back of her neck sheepishly even though it wasn't even itchy. "You could have gone without me. I would have been fine here."

"Yeah, I guess we could have," Cheren said as he placed the box in the middle of the dining table where White's other presents were located, "but you know Bianca wouldn't have heard the end of it."

"Guess so." White let out a laugh as she sat across from Cheren at the table. "Come to think of it, where is Bianca?"

"I'm here!"

As if on cue, the blonde head of Bianca's poked through the door.

"Whad'ya know, you actually got here before Christmas," muttered Cheren. Bianca stomped as she stepped through the door into the dining room.

"I heard that!" she snapped. "And I can tell you I could have been _way _later than Christmas if I wanted to…!"

"Uh, guys…" interrupted White, trying to interject before the two started a pointless argument where they insulted themselves more than they insulted each other. The two glaring faces of her best friends snapped towards her, though she didn't flinch from it. Rather, she'd pretty much gotten used to it. This has become a daily thing; the three would meet up at White's house or somewhere else in Nuvema, Cheren and Bianca would start an argument about absolutely nothing, then White would break it up. Then repeat until White goes slightly insane and storms off.

"What?"

"Breakfast's ready…"

Cheren and Bianca instantly stopped fighting and began digging into fresh pancakes served with Pecha and Nanab Berries, glazed over the top with rich, golden maple syrup. None of them talked while they ate, all three of them focussing on nothing but their food.

Once they were all done, Bianca let out a satisfied sigh and placed her hands on her stomach. "I _love _your mum's cooking!" she chirruped, giving a thumbs up to the woman who was now washing dishes in the kitchen. "Thank you, Megan!"

"Yeah, thanks, Ms. Highland," said Cheren, nodding somewhat gratefully. Cheren was always a little more formal with people's parents, where as Bianca was always straight to the point. She'd even called Megan "mum" at some points. White found it awkward, but her mother didn't seem to mind. Bianca was like the sister White never had, anyway, even if she was impatient and hard to talk to.

White laughed, picking up the three teenagers' syrup-covered plates and carrying them over to the kitchen sink. She then walked back over to the dining room table and eyed the small pile of presents in the middle of it. She looked over all of them, but her eyes fell more often than not on the large box from Professor Juniper that lay in the middle of them all.

"Alright, open them, then," said Megan, giving in to the looks her daughter was giving the boxes. "Just don't get wrapping paper all over the floor. I just cleaned."

White beamed and immediately started digging into her presents. She picked up the first one, which was from Bianca. She opened it to find a simple leather necklace with a blue stone on it; her favourite colour.

"Thanks, B.!" she said, hugging her friend.

"Get on with it." Cheren sighed, shaking his head impatiently. "I want to get to the Pokémon."

"Sorry, Mr. Pushy," snapped White, huffing and crossing her arms, before turning her attention from the boy and clipping the necklace around her neck. She then continued to unwrap her presents, which included a book about Pokémon of Unova from Cheren (of course), a pair of socks from her next-door-neighbour Suzie ("It's never a birthday without a new pair of socks!" she would always say at White's birthday. She had been doing so for the past ten years since White had moved to Unova) and a pink and white cap from her mother.

"I saw you wanted it when we went to Nacrene the other week," said Megan, smiling at White as she pulled the cap onto her head. "I figured I may as well get it for you since I wouldn't let you but it back then."

"Yeah, thanks," said White, grinning at her mother. There was one box left; the one from Professor Juniper, but this box wasn't just for her. She already knew what was in there, and it was the package that would change not only her life, but also Cheren and Bianca's. Inside was the three Pokémon that would be their partners, one for each of them.

"Alright, let's open it!" sang Bianca, the excited tone in her voice rising. She skipped up to the box and leant over it, before instantly beginning to rip at the ribbon that was tightly knotted around the parcel. White laughed at her attitude, where as Cheren just rolled his eyes.

Once the box was opened, the three stared at the Pokéballs that sat inside of it. Each one had a different Pokémon in it. The first was Snivy, the Grass-type, which was a small, green, serpent-like creature that looked relatively smug and full of itself. The second was a blue and white otter Pokémon with a shell on its stomach which was known as Oshawott, the Water-type Pokémon. The third was the Fire-type, Tepig, which looked like an orange, red and black pig with a pompom on the end of its curly tail. Of course, Bianca was the first to dive into the box.

"Oh, which one should I pick?" she muttered excitedly, picking up each Pokéball and examining the Pokémon on the pictures. "Tepig is so cute, but Snivy looks cool, and Oshawott looks simply _adorable_!"

"Hey, what makes you think you can pick?" snapped Cheren, grabbing her collar and pulling her away from the box. "We need to settle this evenly and fairly!"

And with that, the two instantly began to bicker, which wasn't anything new. White simply rolled her eyes and turned to the box herself, deciding to take the chance to pick her Pokémon while the other two were distracted. She placed a hand on her chin, scratching it thoughtfully. She looked over the three Pokémon, considering the fact that she had to be careful; this Pokémon would be her partner for her journey, so she couldn't make a mistake and choose the wrong one. She looked over the Grass-type, Snivy. Her first impression of it was that it looked annoying and hard to train, not something she wanted in a partner. The second, Oshawott, the Water-type, looked like the most well-rounded of the two. Tepig, the Fire-type, was cute and all, but it made her think too much of bacon, so she disregarded that and made her final decision. Smiling to herself, she picked out Oshawott's Pokéball. This, obviously, didn't sit well with Cheren and Bianca, whose eyes snapped over to her as soon as her fingers closed around the Pokéball.

"Hey, who says you get to pick first?" Cheren snapped, glaring at her. White shrugged simply.

"Because you two were too busy arguing," she replied casually. "Besides; it's my house and my birthday."

"Fine." Bianca sighed. "I'll take this one. You can have this one, Cheren!" She picked up Tepig's Pokéball for herself before tossing Snivy's absentmindedly over her shoulder to Cheren, who struggled to catch it.

"You're damn lucky I wanted Snivy anyway…" he muttered, finally getting a grip on the Pokéball. Bianca, however, wasn't paying attention to him. Instead, she was glaring determinedly at White.

"So, what say we battle?" she challenged, holding up Tepig's Pokéball and starting to throw it. Unfortunately for her, she was stopped by Megan's voice.

"Not in the house, Bianca."

"S-sorry, Megan…"

"We can do it outside," said White, gesturing towards the door. Bianca nodded, and the two exited the house, closely followed by Cheren, who was shaking his head at the blonde's attitude.

"Alright, come on out, Tepig!" yelled Bianca excitedly, throwing her Pokéball, though it didn't seem to land where she originally wanted it to land. The Pokéball burst open and red light spilled out of it, shifting and changing until it became the solid form of a Tepig.

"Oshawott, your turn!" White tossed her Pokéball, and soon the small otter Pokémon was standing before her, looking slightly confused about suddenly being let out by an unfamiliar person. She turned to face White and turned her head to the side. "Hey, buddy!" said White, holding out a hand. "I'm your new Trainer. I guess I'll try to be nice."

"Osha?" Oshawott stared at the girl for a few more seconds before grinning happily. "Osha!"

"That's the spirit!" White laughed, placing a hand on the Water-type's head.

Her and Bianca stood facing off at each other, each Trainer's Pokémon standing in fighting stances, glaring at each other with determined fire in their eyes.

"I guess I'll start this off then," said White. "Oshawott, use Tackle!"

With one swift movement, Oshawott leaped into the air and rammed itself in a full-body Tackle at Tepig, who couldn't quite dodge in time and got hit straight on. Bianca grunted.

"Oh, you'll pay for that!" she yelled, shaking a fist before jabbing a finger in the air and calling her first command. "Tepig, use Tackle!"

As the only damaging moves their Pokémon knew at that moment was Tackle, the battle was relatively boring and short, though for the two new Trainers it was the battle of a lifetime. Cheren watched from the sidelines, Snivy sitting on his shoulder. The two were analysing the girls' battle strategies thoroughly, though it wasn't much of a strategy they were using, more like "Tackle quick and Tackle hard".

Finally, after a few more minutes of Tackling, White punched the air as her and Oshawott emerged victorious.

"Ha! Take _that_!" she yelled happily. Oshawott leaped into the air and held her shell up with her, crying out, "Osha!" in sync with White's victory call.

"Wow, that was fun!" chirped Bianca, not seeming to be angry at all for losing. Rather, she seemed happy with the outcome, though it _was _Bianca, so she usually managed to look on the bright side of things.

"Uh, can I interrupt?" Cheren cut in, walking up to the two. "We need to get to Professor Juniper's lab. We're already running late."

"Right," agreed White, nodding firmly. "Lemme just run in and get my bag."

White sprinted into the house and bounded upstairs, skipping every second step and almost falling over multiple times. When she ran back downstairs, she gave her mother a half-hearted wave and called out "Bye!" without even looking at her. Megan just rolled her eyes; she didn't know what she'd been expecting from her overconfident daughter.

"Where the heck is Bianca?" asked Cheren, when the two stood outside Professor Juniper's lab with absence of a certain blonde.

White sighed. "I'll go get her…" she muttered, before turning away from the professor's lab and instead making her way over to Bianca's house, which stood on the far left corner of the town. Once she approached it, she automatically felt that she shouldn't have gone near it in the first place. She could hear yelling coming from the inside of the house, one much more angry than the other, which sounded like the source was about to burst in the tears.

Rather hesitantly and somewhat awkwardly, White reached a hand up and knocked on the door. When no one answered, she went in anyway. When she entered, she saw the tear-stained face of Bianca arguing with her red-faced father. She looked over to see Bianca's mother taking refuge behind the kitchen counter. She gestured for her to come in, which White obeyed to with slight hesitation.

"No, no, a thousand times, no!" yelled Bianca's father. The blonde flinched, jumping back a little at her father's tone.

"B-but I'm a g-good Trainer who got a Pokémon and everything!" stammered Bianca, apparently trying to keep her confidence up despite the intimidation of listening to her father's angry tone.

"Don't mind my husband…" Bianca's mother sighed. "He's just being overprotective, that's all."

White nodded before standing up and walking up to Bianca, who had stormed past her father and was now exiting out of the door. Once the two were outside, White placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked. Bianca wiped a tear off of her cheek.

"I'm fine. Let's just go."

Around five minutes later, the two girls and Cheren found themselves standing in front of the largest building in Nuvema Town; Professor Juniper's lab. Despite being the largest, it certainly wasn't the cleanest. As soon as the door was opened by the well-known Pokémon professor, the three saw the cluttered mess that lay inside the lab. Books, Pokémon footprints and scrunched up pieces of paper littered the floor, pretty much covering up the desks and computers that should have been the main sight of the laboratory.

"Hello!" greeted Professor Juniper, poking only her head out of the door as she couldn't manage to open it wide enough to get her whole body out. "Sorry about the mess, but please do come in!"

The professor entered first, making a path through all of the clutter with her foot as she walked. Even then, however, it was still hard to avoid the mess due to the fact that as things were kicked out of the way, it caused a chain reaction for more things to fall onto the ground from shelves or desks. Despite the messiness of the lab, Professor Juniper looked rather neat. Her lab coat was pretty clean, and her light brown hair was tied up in a neat bun atop of her head. Her eyes were a radiant green, showing splashes of eagerness and determination.

"I need to clean up a bit, I think," said Juniper simply, as if the mess wasn't a big deal at all.

"A bit?" muttered Cheren, rolling his eyes for the umpteenth time that morning. "I hope you don't own a Minccino. It'd have a heart attack seeing this."

"Don't worry, I don't let her out of her Pokéball when we're inside," explained the professor, pushing a stack of folders off of her desk chair and taking a seat. Cheren sweatdropped. "Anyway, welcome, you three. I see you've already bonded with your Pokémon quite a bit!"

"Osha!" agreed Oshawott, who was still seated on White's shoulder from after their battle with Bianca.

"Anyway, I would like to explain what I called you all here for," continued Juniper, chuckling lightly at the Water-type's attitude.

"It's for the Pokédex, right?" asked Cheren. Juniper beamed.

"Yes, precisely!" she said, clapping her hands together before turning back to her desk and pulling out three small, red devices. "This is the Pokédex; a high-tech device that automatically records the data on Pokémon. I've been meaning to complete it for awhile now, but I haven't had the time. So I'm going to give you three one each so you can go around Unova and collect data for me. So what do you say, do you accept my request?"

"Of course!" said Bianca and White simultaneously. Cheren just nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's easy, then!" Juniper then handed out a Pokédex to each teenager. "But remember to mainly focus on your travels. The Pokédex is sort of a side note."

"Cool," White remarked, placing her Pokédex into her bag.

The three exited the lab with a whole new level of excitement, except for maybe Cheren, who wasn't really showing it if he was. When they stepped out of the lab, they met Megan standing outside waiting for them.

"So, how goes it?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips and eyeing the three curiously. "What did the professor say?"

"She said she wants us to complete the Pokédex," explained White, though her mother didn't look at all surprised.

"Well, actually, I knew what she was going to do all along." She laughed quietly. "Because of that, I brought you three town maps. Here, take them!"

The three pocketed their town maps, the two girls showing much more gratitude than Cheren did, who simply said, "I will use it wisely."

"Alright, well, you three enjoy your journey," said Megan, placing a hand on White's shoulder. "Make sure to call. I want to know all about how your first day goes!"

"Sure thing, mum!" White let out a small laugh and gave her mother a quick hug. The three then left, taking their last few steps in their hometown. Once they had almost reached Route 1, however, Bianca seemed to suddenly remember something.

"Oh!" she said, which made White skid to a halt. "Wait, we forgot about our last present!"

"Ah, right." Cheren nodded as Bianca began digging around in her bag. After a few seconds (made longer by the numerous items that fell out of her bag that seemed unnecessary for a journey) she pulled out a small bag. She then handed it to White, who opened it instantly to find a group of five Pokéballs.

"Bianca and I chipped in together to buy them for you," explained Cheren. White raised an eyebrow.

"You two worked _together_?" she said, her mouth dropping open in mock-horror. "Shocker!"

"Shut up." Cheren shot her an annoyed glance.

"Kidding," said White simply. "Well, actually, I'm not. I think one or both of you may be sick. But anyway, thanks for all the presents. I really appreciate it."

Then the three turned around and took their first few steps into the world of many new adventures.

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**Misa: Gee, that turned out longer than expected… twelve pages on Microsoft Word, which is about three times as long as the old version. Anyway, as for the rewritten chapters, I'll probably rewrite the first six or so. After that it'll all be the first written work. Anyway, make sure to review and read the rest. If you want to, of course. I'm not going to force you, that would be rude…**


	2. The Boy From the Dream

**Pokémon: Black and White**

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**Misa: Here's to the second chapter of my rewritten chapters! These ones aren't taking me as long as chapter one as I can just copy/paste half of the dialogue, but it still is kinda annoying rewriting chapters that I've already gone through, but I guess it'll be worth it. Anywho, I don't own Pokémon. Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be spending my time writing fanfiction on it fuelled by my own fantasies… Now excuse me while I go cry and reconsider my sad excuse for a life. *Cries in corner.***

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It was the first time the new king had left the castle on his own without his father's guidance, and he somehow felt freer. For one, he could go anywhere he wanted without having to worry about getting controlled or yelled at. Okay, that wasn't entirely true, he still had the guidance of his father, but he wasn't being watched constantly. All in all, the sun felt warmer, the soft breeze felt better, and he felt greater. His companion, Zorua, a tiny black fox Pokémon, was following along at his heels, stopping every-so-often to sniff some of the fresh plants or the cool air that you could only get in Accumula. Naturally, Zorua still found something to complain about through all of this.

"_When do we get to leave this place, N_?" whined the tricky fox Pokémon. "_I'm bored and tired and my feet hurt_." He looked up at the boy, assumed "N" and pouted as well as a fox can pout. His black eyes widened in attempt to look cute as possible. N, however, didn't seem annoyed by him in the first place. Instead, he just chuckled lightly.

"We'll leave as soon as Ghetsis' speech is done," explained N, kneeling down and patting the Pokémon on the head. Next to him, a Purrloin was sitting and licking its paw, an obnoxious and bored look on its face. Its eerie-coloured purple eyes, which matched the colour of its body, weren't looking at anything in particular. It just watched and waited for its Trainer to keep walking. When he did, so did the cat, purring slightly as its feet padded against the ground. It had a proud, "I'm better than you" sort of look to it. This bugged Zorua immensely.

"_That thing doesn't deserve to share the Dark-type with me,"_ he muttered, but N heard every word. This was when Zorua turned out as he assumed N would just say the same thing he always replied with at some point during a conversation. It always went something like, "All Pokémon are equal and don't deserve to be treated how they are." Then some long, complicated rambling about the formulas of space and how humans don't deserve to litter the face of this planet.

"…and that's why you _do _deserve to share a type with that Purrloin." N finished as he looked down at Zorua to see him lying on the ground and struggling to keep his eyes open in attempt to stop himself from falling into unconsciousness. "Oh, you really are tired, aren't you?"

"_No shoot,"_ grumbled Zorua, though the tiredness wasn't entirely the reason why he was falling asleep. He got up, shook himself, yawned, and continued to follow along with N and the "annoying cat thing" (as he now called it). "_Anyway, you haven't even done anything with that thing!" _Emphasis on the "thing".

"I'll wait for the right time, then I'll release her," replied N, not seeming to care that he was talking with a Pokémon and earning strange glances from passers by. All they heard were a series of barks and yaps from the Zorua, but to N it was a whole lot more than that.

N had grown up in a world primarily based around Pokémon. He'd never been too fond of humans. They were evil, selfish, and always had to get their own way. That's what he'd experienced, anyway. Due to growing up with so many Pokémon, he'd gained the rather odd ability of being able to talk and empathise with them. He felt at one with Pokémon, almost like he was one himself. He felt all Pokémon were equal. Perhaps that was why he could talk to them. Maybe it was just the fact that he understood them more than others. Either way, talking to a Pokémon in the middle of a street was not considered normal by today's standards, though due to N's lack of human interaction he didn't seem to realise the people were shooting odd looks at him. Actually, he didn't notice the odd looks at all. It was like the people around him didn't even exist.

"_What exactly does "the right time" mean?"_ questioned Zorua. "_'Cause to me, the right time is right now, actually, the right time was when you caught this damn thing."_ Again, emphasis on the "thing". Purrloin simply shook her head, smirking amusedly at the scene going on. N raised an eyebrow at Zorua.

"It's odd how I seem nicer to your own kind at the moment than you do," he muttered, shaking his head.

"_Never compare that thing to me,"_ snapped Zorua, snarling quietly.

"Anyway, I can't keep Pokémon in Pokéballs. It's cruel," said N quietly, as if Zorua hadn't said anything. Sure, he'd heard the words, but growing up with a Zorua as a friend, especially this Zorua, he got used to the bitter attitude as time went on.

"_Ever think that I'm a Pokémon. I don't think it's cruel_." In their first agreement, the Purrloin purred softly. Zorua growled under his breath, as if saying, "_You have no right to agree with me you underfed feline_."

"You don't have a Pokéball," said N simply. "You follow me willingly. You've never felt what it was like to be confined in such a space."

Zorua seemed to get stuck here. "_W-well… Pokémon are friends with humans! We always have been_!"

"What about before humans existed?" asked N. Zorua paused, trying to think up of a comeback that would never come.

"_Dammit_."

-.-.-

"Okay, three, two, one, go!"

White, Cheren and Bianca were taking their first steps into the new world that was Route 1. Together and perfectly in-sync, of course, because Bianca wouldn't take White's or Cheren's arguments that it was cheesy and stupid. Of course, this _was _Bianca, so they didn't really know what they were expecting.

"Oh, this is so exciting!" sang Bianca, kneeling down and running a hand along the grass. "Look, we're outside of Unova! _Without _parents!"

Cheren sweatdropped. "You don't get out much, do you?" he muttered. White just laughed slightly.

"None of us do, Cheren." She patted Bianca on the back to signal for her to stand up again. "Now, come on! I want to get going and own every single Pokémon in the world!" She spread her arms out as far as they could go as if she was giving the world a hug but couldn't quite reach around it entirely.

"Don't you think you could dream a little lower? We're only on Route 1," murmured Cheren, shaking his head at her confidence.

"Dream big or go home!" chanted White, marching ahead of the two. Before she could get too far, however, Bianca ran ahead and stopped her.

"Hey, hey, I have another awesome idea!" she announced, placing a hand on both White's and Cheren's shoulders and jumping up and down. White and Cheren groaned, remembering how cheesy and lame the last "totally awesome" idea was. "No, wait, before you think it's boring, listen! We have a catching contest! Whoever gets the most Pokémon by the time we get to Accumula wins!"

"Actually, that doesn't sound like too bad of an idea." White shrugged.

"I guess so," said Cheren, adjusting his glasses and placing his free hand on his hip. "I guess it would be kind of fun, and it would help us fill up pages."

"Wait, don't you need Pokéballs?" mentioned White, pulling her own Pokéballs out of her own bag. "I mean, you bought them for me, but do you…?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," chirped Bianca, pulling out her own little bag of red and white capsules. "My mum bought me some, same with Cheren's parents for him."

"Oh, great to know my mother cares about me, then…" muttered White. Her mother hadn't bothered buying her Pokéballs. Perhaps she knew of Cheren and Bianca's gift, but still. Although, she was a single parent, so it was only fair. "Okay, then, I'll see you guys in Accumula Town!"

The three then went their separate ways, waving goodbye to each other as they rushed away in pursuit of the most Pokémon. Unfortunately for White and Bianca, though, they had Cheren to go up against, who had a lot of knowledge about Pokémon. Despite White's confidence levels, she wasn't sure they would be able to beat Cheren's knowledge. Still, she would try her best; as she'd said before, dream big or go home.

She turned her head to face Oshawott, who was still clinging onto her shoulder. She chuckled slightly, scratching the Pokémon's chin. "You ready to catch some Pokémon and become the conquerors of Route 1?"

"Osha!" cried Oshawott, though she didn't seem to have a clue about what White was saying or what she meant. Despite her confusion, she leaped off of White's shoulder and got ready for anything that might come her way.

After around five minutes of walking to find nothing, White heard a rustle in the bushes. Not used to having to stay alert, she thought nothing of it at first, and if it weren't for Oshawott leaping off of her shoulder and Tackling the overconfident Patrat to the ground before it could hit her, she would have come out much worse than she managed to.

"Osha!" snapped Oshawott, glaring at the Patrat, who also glared back at her. The wild Pokémon's glare, however, seemed much more intimidating as it had a small glint of yellow in its eye that apparently scared Oshawott half to death. Instantly, White pulled out her Pokédex to analyse the Pokémon and see what the move it was using was called. She watched as the small brown rat appeared on the screen, its yellow and black eyes glaring as it looked out for its surrounding opponents. White then tapped the eyes of the Pokémon where the move was coming from. The Pokédex emitted a voice that spoke, "_A Patrat's Leer is often considered its main move. It uses this move to intimidate enemies before attacking them."_

"Leer, huh?" she muttered to herself, but then remembered her Oshawott was battling the Pokémon that was Leering at her, ready to attack her. "Oh, no! Oshawott!" she cried, as Oshawott got his by a direct Tackle and flew back to ram into a tree. However, the Water-type just stood up again and looked around confidently, not willing to let a little Tackle get the best of her. Unfortunately, it did, as when White called her next command, the Patrat had already run into the bushes.

"Dammit…" she grumbled, though she didn't seem to be taking it as hard as Oshawott, who was now sitting on the ground sulking with her head drooped and her eyes looking guilty. White's eyes widened and she rushed over to pick her up. "Hey, don't worry, buddy, we'll get 'em next time. We're not going to get one defeat get the best of us, are we?"

"Osha!" _No!_

The two then punched the air, Oshawott holding up her shell, and yelled out in victory (even though they hadn't won anything yet).

Unfortunately for their confidence levels, the two searched for another hour and didn't find a single Pokémon. Sure, there weren't that many species of Pokémon from Nuvema to Accumula even though it was one of the least human affected places in Unova, but did they really hate White that much? Sighing to herself, White flopped down on the ground and placed Oshawott onto the picnic blanket she'd just laid out for herself. She then proceeded to pull out a sandwich for herself and Pokémon food for Oshawott. She then turned to her Pokémon and poured the Pokémon food into a bowl and turning about to her own sandwich…

Which had disappeared completely.

"What the…?" she muttered, looking around for any sign of where her sandwich had disappeared to. "Oh, who am I kidding? Sandwiches don't have legs."

She then heard a back from behind her and turned to see a small, brown, puppy-like Pokémon.

"But Lillipup do…" she murmured. Sure enough, the Lillipup had White's sandwich wedged between her teeth. It was also glaring at her, as if beckoning her to even _try _to get the sandwich back. "Alright, Oshawott! Let's catch us a Lillipup! Go!" White pointed a finger at the wild Pokémon, but the moment was ruined when Oshawott didn't move. Instead, she just continued to eat like White hadn't said anything. "Oshawott, _go!_" White then pushed her in front of the Lillipup and away from her food.

"Osha?"

"Oh, for Arceus sake, _look at the freaking Lillipup_!"

Before Oshawott even got a chance to turn around, however, she was rammed into by the Lillipup, who'd dropped the sandwich out of range for White to grab and had continued on to fight Oshawott.

"Oshawott, use Tackle!"

The Water-type sprang into the air and hit the Lillipup head-on as it had only just landed from attacking Oshawott. She then landed on the ground, and, before White could call out her next command, shot a freezing cold jet of water out of her mouth at Lillipup, who was blown backwards due to the impact.

"Awesome, that's Water Gun!" yelled White happily, punching the air. "Alright, let's give 'em another Tackle!"

Once the Lillipup was hit a few more times, White pulled out a Pokéball from her bag of empty ones and hurled it through the air at the puppy. The capsule bounced onto the Pokémon, and as it clicked open, the Lillipup turned into a stream of red light that was absorbed into the Pokéball, which then landed on the ground and twitched once, twice, three times, then sealed with a _click_. White stood still, staring at it for a moment, before beaming with excitement and rushing over to pick it up.

"Yeah, I caught a Lillipup!" she shouted, holding the ball up in the air. Oshawott leaped up alongside her.

"Osha!" she cried excitedly, before being snatched up by White and held in her arms.

"Alright, we have a Pokémon, now let's head to Accumula!"

Before Oshawott could protest (as White had left the picnic blanket, bowl and the Pokémon food inside it behind her, Oshawott being most worried about the food) White was already off and running down the path towards Accumula Town. After a ten minute run or so, the buildings and apartments of the town became clear through a break in the trees that slowly spread apart the closer to the city they got. White grinned, staring at the massive buildings. Even though Accumula was rather small compared to other towns, it was still bigger than Nuvema and seemed much bigger now that she was there on her own and didn't have to follow her mother's directions.

Once she reached the entrance to the town, she saw that, for pretty much the first time in her life, Bianca had beaten her somewhere. There she stood with Cheren beside her—who had a book in his hands and didn't seem to be paying all that much attention to the blonde—waiting somewhat impatiently while she skipped around in circles unable to stand still. Once she saw White, she rush up to her with her arms outstretched, ready to give her a massive hug like she hadn't seen her in years. Luckily, White managed to dodge out of the way before she could even get close to her.

"Hiya, White!" sang Bianca, not really acknowledging the fact that she'd nearly fallen over when she missed White in her hard attempt to hug her. "So, what happened? Did you catch a Pokémon?"

"Sure did!" said White, holding up Lillipup's Pokéball. Bianca bounced up and down a few times on the spot.

"Cool, that mean we all tied! I caught a Lillipup and Cheren caught a Purrloin. Speaking of which… hey, Cheren!" she called, waving vigorously. Cheren looked up from his book and, when he saw White, closed it and approached them. "So, lemme see it! _Please_, I want to see what you got!"

"Calm your farm, Bianca." White laughed, before hurling the Pokéball into the air and releasing her newly-caught Lillipup, who, upon landing on the ground, seemed utterly confused about her surroundings. Once she looked around a little and saw the familiar face of White, she yapped happily and began chasing her tail and running around in circles. "Anyway," continued White, returning Lillipup to her Pokéball before she could hurt anyone, "I say we head to the Pokémon Center. Oshawott's exhausted."

"Good plan," agreed Cheren, putting his book neatly back into his bag and following the two girls to the Pokémon Center, which was a large red and white building only a small walk away from the entrance to the city. It was made for the convenience of Trainers, so it was purposely around about in the centre of the small town so it was close to both the entrance and the exit.

Once the three entered, they walked straight up to the reception desk and handed their Pokémon to Nurse Joy, a happy lady with a big smile and even bigger curls in her pigtailed hair. She gladly took them, before turning around and handing them to a large pink Pokémon with droopy ears and a curly tail. White pulled out her Pokédex and examined it to see that it was a Pokémon called Audino; a Pokémon used in many medical purposes and pretty much every Pokémon Center in Unova. Apparently it used the curly antennas coming out of its ears to sense the feelings and emotions of Pokémon.

"Pretty cool…" muttered White, pocketing her Pokédex and heading over to the waiting area with Bianca and Cheren, where they all took a seat on the relatively comfortable couch. It was then that they noticed the number of Trainers rapidly decreasing, the majority of them exiting out of the front door leaving only ten or so people left, including the White, Cheren and Bianca.

"Maybe it's just the time of day," mumbled Cheren. White shrugged, before turning her hearing towards the megaphone above the reception desk which was now calling for the three to come and pick up their Pokémon.

The three headed over and thanked Nurse Joy gratefully, Bianca even bowing slightly before she pocketed her Pokéballs. White's curiosity, apparently, was getting the best of her, so she decided to ask the nurse about the decrease in people.

"Not really sure…" she muttered, looking around. "There's usually a lot of people around her at this time of day since it's the afternoon and a lot of Trainers come to take up a room for the night. Maybe there's something going on outside."

"Alright, we'll go check it out. Thanks a bunch." White nodded briskly before she, Cheren and Bianca left the Pokémon Center in search of the source of the decreasing number of people. Sure enough, their source was outside, as a whole crowd of people was gathered around a small stage near the exit out to Route 2.

Pushing their way through the crowd, the three saw the people gathered on the stage, apparently the cause of the gathering, and how weird they looked. Leading the group of people was a man with an eerie, cold feeling to him, like if you went to close to him your blood would freeze. He definitely didn't look like a nice person, and his look didn't help too much, either. On one of his eyes there was a red and silver monocle, which glinted in the light radiating from the sun and reminded White of the Patrat using Leer. His uncovered eye was a dark, piercing red that you couldn't look in for too long without having to look away and avoid his eyesight forever. The colour of his eye clashed horribly with the colour of his hair, which was an odd shade of grey-green that White had never seen before. His mouth was crawled up into some sort of smirk, but it wasn't menacing or scary, or even confident. It wasn't kind, either, more like a neutral feeling. When White looked at it, she didn't really feel much and found herself confused about what the man was really feeling. Draped over his body were robes of brown, purple, black and green with an odd pattern on it that White couldn't make out from the distance she was looking at it from.

Behind the man were seven men, each pair holding up a banner, with large "P's" on them and dressed as… knights, maybe? If they were, they were very odd looking knights, wearing grey outfits with hoods so tight only a little tuft of hair stuck out over the men's foreheads and a long, grey cape fitted to each one. The man at the front looked vaguely familiar to White, but the thought went away when he started talking and the whole crowd stopped their curious, somewhat nervous conversations.

"My name is Ghetsis. I'm here representing Team Plasma," he began, and White's stomach lurched when she heard the name, but she wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was his tone, which was raspy and cold, yet somehow, it drew her in and made her want to hear more, like it was manipulating her, _forcing _her to keep listening. The man showed he wouldn't have anything less than everyone it town listening, but his voice was still somehow calm and kind. It was an odd mix, not quite warm, but not cold and demanding either. "I'm here to talk to you about Pokémon liberation."

"What is this guy on about?" White heard Cheren mutter, and she snickered quietly, gaining a few annoyed glares from some of the assumed Team Plasma members which told her to shut up, so she did, but she had a feeling it wouldn't be for long.

"I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and Pokémon are partners," continued Ghetsis, not paying attention to any of the quiet whispers coming from townsfolk. What could he expect? They didn't understand him. Not yet, anyway, he planned to make them understand him no matter what.

"That's because we are," muttered White. This time, Ghetsis heard her and smirked at her. A lot of people around her jumped back slightly, gasping in anticipation even though Ghetsis wasn't actually looking at them. White placed her hands on her hips and glared at him confidently. This guy was crazy, and she wasn't going to have any of it.

"As I said, you _believe_ you are partners. Have you ever thought about the Pokémon's feelings? Have you ever considered this might not be the truth?" Protests came from the crowd. Apparently none of them had considered the so called "truth". In reaction to this, Ghetsis only raised his voice to be heard over the excited crowd. "Pokémon are controlled by the selfish demands of Trainers. They get pushed around when they are our supposed 'partners' at work. Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?" Most of the crowd said no or stayed silent, but White wasn't most of the crowd.

"I can. Pokémon aren't forced to stay with us. They could just get up and leave when we let them out of their Pokéballs if they wanted to!" she protested, and Cheren and Bianca nodded in agreement, along with some of the townspeople, though most were too nervous to agree. Ghetsis seemed rather interested in White now, and was smirking at her. Not the smirk he had on before which was neutral, but a more curious, somewhat scary smirk.

"Humph, what's your name, girl?" he asked, the feeling in his voice rising. Before, he'd almost spoke in monotone, his voice hypnotizing and mesmerising to one's ears. Now, however, he seemed to have a sliver of emotion behind it.

"Why should I tell you?" she snapped. Ghetsis huffed impatiently, but decided to go on as if she hadn't said anything.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen. Pokémon are different from humans. They are living beings that contain unknown potential, in which we humans have much to learn from. How can we deal with this?" He waited for a reply, but only a ringing silence echoed through the crowd, who was too nervous to say anything. When no one replied, he went on as if someone had. "That's right, we must liberate the Pokémon! Only then will Pokémon and humans truly be equal. We appreciate your attention." Perfectly in sync, as if they had practised this many times, the members dressed in grey surrounded Ghetsis, picked up the banners and led him away.

It took a few minutes for the crowd to dissolve into thin air. Some of them had stayed behind to discuss with their companions about what was right—which White couldn't believe as she didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to believe the rubbish that spilt out of Ghetsis' mouth—others left straight away, discussing with their friends about what a waste of time that meeting was. White couldn't believe someone would be idiotic enough to suggest that Pokémon should be isolated from humans, and she concluded with herself that if she saw anyone releasing their Pokémon because of Ghetsis' fancy-talk, the representatives of Team Plasma would be getting a punch in the nose from yours truly.

Finally, the crowd had disbanded and the area around the stage was clear, all except for four people; Cheren, Bianca and White, of course, but the fourth was a person that made White's heart leap. Standing before them was a boy with long, shaggy, tea-green hair tied back in a ponytail. He had a relatively childish expression on his face, like a four-year-old would have when they're looking around a lolly shop at all the exotic things they could never afford. He was staring oddly at White, who in turn, stared oddly back, though her stare was more freaked out than his. After a few more seconds, he approached them slowly, examining her from top to bottom, now with a suspicious, somewhat curious look on his face. It was then that White realised how tall he was; probably more than six feet. White raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hello?" she said awkwardly, a questioning tone to her voice. The boy stopped examining her and quickly moved his gaze to stare at his face. White looked back at his and saw that the childish expression was back.

"Your Pokémon… why do they say such odd things?" he muttered. His voice was quiet and calm, but the speed was off compared to the tone. He spoke fast, fast enough for all of the words to seem like they were jumbled up into one.

"Excuse me?" White paused with a sigh, before saying, "You're weird." She was getting more confused by the minute, though it wasn't all the boy's fault. For some reason, her heart was racing. She had the odd feeling that she'd seen him before… then it hit her. "You're the guy from my dream!" she said, pointing a finger at him. She seemed overly proud of herself despite the fact that Cheren and Bianca were both staring at her like she was crazy. In a way, she was.

"You're not the most normal person either," said the boy absentmindedly. "And yes, they were talking. That is not weird. Pokémon have voices, too."

"Okay, you're officially creepier than that Ghetsis guy…" muttered White, turning her gaze from him and shaking her head.

"What is your name?" he asked, not moving her gaze off of her despite the fact that there were two others standing behind her. "You made quite a ruckus at that meeting, so I am curious to know."

"I'm White." She sighed, figuring that he wouldn't take, "I'm not going to tell you because you're a freak," for an answer. "These are my friends, Cheren and Bianca." She gestured absentmindedly to her two companions, not looking where her hand was and almost hitting Bianca in the face. "Anyway, you know mine, so spill. What's your name?"

"My name is N," said the boy, fingering the rim of his black and white baseball cap.

"N?" questioned White. "That's a weird name."

"Your name is White. That's not the most normal name."

"It's still more normal than N…" she mumbled, gritting her teeth as to hot bite her bottom lip in frustration. "Anyway, for one thing, my Pokémon are inside their Pokéballs, so how can you hear them speaking? And two, _Pokémon don't speak_! Even if they were outside you couldn't hear them speak, unless you count their cries."

"I just can," answered N, which wasn't really the most revealing answer. "What brings you here to Accumula?"

"What makes you so interested in us?" snapped White, crossing her arms and glaring at him suspiciously.

"I just am," said N. "Now, care to explain?"

"Fine, we're on a journey to complete the Pokédex for Professor Juniper," explained White. N's eyes widened as soon as the word "Pokédex" was said.

"The Pokédex, you say?" he asked. White nodded impatiently. "So you're planning on confining many, many Pokémon in Pokéballs for that job, then?"

"I wouldn't say "confining"," White paused with a sigh, getting more and more weirded out by the guy by the second, "we'll let them out. Keeping them in there 24/7 would be cruel, would it not?"

N raised an eyebrow. "I have never heard a Trainer speak like you do…" he whispered, as if amazed by White's attitude to the subject.

"Aren't you a Trainer?" asked White, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.

"Yes, I am," said N, "but I can't help but wonder; are Pokémon really happy with us?"

"If you're so bent up on this whole liberation thing, why don't you just release your own Pokémon?"

"I will, when the time is right," continued N. "Come, I must battle you. I need to hear your Pokémon's voice more!"

"Okay, you are officially crazy," mumbled White. "But fine, I'll battle you."

The two stood further apart from each other, Bianca and Cheren taking seats on the bench at the back of the stage where the conference was held. They were both conversing quietly about what was happening, since neither of them seemed to have any say on the matter. White and N sent out their Pokémon, White releasing her Oshawott from a Pokéball, and N revealing his Purrloin from behind him.

"Oshawott, use Water gun!"

Meanwhile, Zorua was standing behind the nearest building, eyeing the battle from afar. Despite the fact that he was an extremely rare Pokémon, he went perfectly unnoticed as most people were more focused on dodging the jets of water shooting everywhere from Oshawott's mouth.

"_Maybe this is what he meant by "the right time"," _he muttered to himself. "_But still, how did he know that she'd come along? Or was he just waiting for one single battle before he released Purrloin? He said her Pokémon said interesting things, but even I can't speak to Pokémon when they're inside their Pokéballs." _The black fox sighed. _"Perhaps he is smarter than he seems."_

"Now, let's give 'em one last Water Gun!" commanded White, and Oshawott shot one last stream of water at the Purrloin before it fell to the ground, fainted, much to the relief of the citizens who were now covered in water from the several attacks that hadn't quite been on target.

N, however, seemed downright horrified at his loss. Well, maybe not exactly at the loss, more of the fact that his Purrloin had been hurt. He rushed up to her and picked her up, checking her pulse. He was relieved when he felt her warm tongue lick his face, though Zorua apparently wasn't happy with it as he was heard in the background muttering, "_Dammit, it isn't dead._"

White walked up to N, but the green-haired boy just turned away and began walking out of Accumula town towards Route 2. After a few steps, however, he stopped and began whispering to himself.

"As long as Pokémon are confined in Pokéballs, they will never be perfect beings. I must change the world for Pokémon, because they are my friends... Zorua!" On cue, the small black fox leaped out from behind the building to N's heals, though the teenagers only caught a ball of black fur as it was moving too fast for them to see what it actually was for more than a second.

"Was that…?" muttered Bianca, astounded at the sight. "But they're super rare."

"Wow, Bianca knows some general knowledge." Cheren laughed, where as Bianca just scowled as White walked up to them, glancing every-so-often at the path N had taken.

"That was… weird." She shook her head, deciding to ignore the thoughts. She would probably never see him again, after all. She'd probably mistaken the guy in her dream for him. Yeah, that's it. N wasn't the boy from her dream. He was someone completely different. Nothing more than a boy that passed by and asked for a battle.

However, no matter how much she thought about it and tried to convince herself that that was the case, she knew deep down that he was more than a random stranger.

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**Misa: Ugh, the ending was really lame and cheesy, almost as bad as Bianca's "Oh my gosh let's take out first steps together!" thing. Okay, it wasn't as bad as that, but still. Anywho, I think I'm going to be redoing up until chapter six, since there are no major turnoffs I can see in chapters seven and up. Anyway, I suppose I'll decide that when I get there. Anyway, reviews make me smile! I hope to see you in the next chapter! *waves***


	3. Travels and Battles

**Pokémon: Black and White**

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**Misa: Hiya, welcome to chapter three: rewritten. Today, I realised how little of a life I have. I spent **_**four freaking hours **_**looking up Dualrivalshipping pictured on Tumblr, then I wrote this chapter based on my fantasies. *Sigh* Whatever, I don't own Pokémon, but I do own this story! No taking, but I don't see why you would, it's not really that brilliant compared to some other ones out there.**

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"White, it's morning!" Bianca shook her sleeping friend roughly, trying to get her out of bed, which was possibly an impossible task. White's eyes fluttered a little, but instead of opening them and waking up instantly, she just groaned and slapped Bianca in the face while still half asleep, and she jumped back in shock and a little horror. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"M-mosquito…" yawned White, before rolling over and beginning to snore loudly once again in her not-so-blissful, relatively loud sleep full of dreams about Mareep jumping over fences. Just then, Cheren walked into the room, looking rather annoyed that the two were late for waking up. Well, late by Cheren's standards, as it was actually only six-thirty in the morning.

"Still can't wake her up?" he asked, sighing impatiently. Bianca shook her head, still holding the hand-shaped red mark that was now formed on her face (or "mosquito" as White called it). "Ugh, alright. Time for me to take charge." Cheren grabbed White's bag off the ground, unzipped the main pocket where she kept her Pokéballs, and began rummaging through it.

"H-hey, that's not yours, it's White's!" said Bianca, trying to snatch the bag back, but Cheren held it up higher than she could reach, as he was much taller than her. However, it did backfire on him as he managed to receive numerous nail marks from the girl's talon-like fingers.

"So? I want to get going now!" He continued digging through the bag while Bianca sat on the ground and began grumbling to herself. "Ah, here we go!" Cheren held up one of White's Pokéballs victoriously and threw it into the air, sending out the still half-asleep Oshawott, who opened her eyes groggily and stared up at him, her eyes widened in confusion. If she was awake, the two would have probably received a Water Gun to the face, but the Pokémon didn't quite have enough energy to do so at this time of morning.

"Osha?" she yawned, stretching and staring at the two confusedly, switching her eyesight back and forth between them curiously.

"Oshawott, we need you to wake her up," said Cheren, gesturing over to White. Oshawott climbed up onto the bed and peered into her Trainer's eyes, poking a paw on her face a little. Cheren laughed a little at the Pokémon's overwhelming curiosity. "Okay, Oshawott, use Water…"

"I'M UP!" yelled White, sitting up suddenly and hitting her head on the bunk bed above her, causing Oshawott to topple onto the floor in the process, letting out a surprised grunt. "What the _hell_?" she snapped, rubbing her head from the impact and not thinking to checking if her Pokémon was okay.

"Bianca's been trying to wake you up for the past twenty minutes…" Cheren shrugged, shaking his head at Bianca, who was now rolling around on the floor laughing along with Oshawott.

"It's only six-thirty!" growled White, swinging her feet over the side of the bed. "Why do you do this to me?"

"We're Trainers now. Don't you think we need to get more of a schedule going?" retorted Cheren, crossing his arms and putting on a face that was around twice as serious as his usual expression was. White just glared at him, shooting daggers out of her piercing blue eyes. Oshawott climbed up onto her shoulder in her usual position, apparently disregarding the fact that White had not even apologized for sending her falling to the ground. She'd not even known her for a day and she was already getting an idea of her attitude and personality.

"I'm going to kill you one day, you realise…" grumbled White, sitting up and stretching while pointing at Cheren. "_Both _of you, for that matter…" She turned her finger to Bianca, who looked rather offended that she was being blamed too.

"Yeah, I figured that out a long time ago…" muttered Cheren, handing Oshawott's Pokéball to her. "Now, come on. Let's go get breakfast."

"Why did you blame me?" asked Bianca, a childish, whiny tone to her voice. White just shrugged.

"You didn't have to agree with Cheren, did you?" she answered simply, before prancing along after Cheren out of the guest rooms in the Pokémon Center.

-.-.-

N threw a Pokéball into the air, releasing his Purrloin onto fresh ground once more. Instead of the usual red that the light that would usually come out of the Pokéball, however, the light was blue; the colour it turned when the Pokéball was untying its bond with the Pokémon it contained and saying farewell to it for good. Zorua stared at it sadly and shook his head. Sure, he hated the Purrloin for her obnoxious behavior, but seeing her now he could see how attached to N she'd grown over such a short time.

"You're released now, Purrloin. Now you can be free…" N said, giving her one last pat on the head. Purrloin looked at him confusedly, turning her head to the side. She then walked over and rubbed her head against his leg, as if she didn't know that she was now no longer his Pokémon. Had she done something wrong? Had she upset him in some way? She didn't feel good about it while thinking that she had. She felt guilty, and she wanted to make it up to him.

"_See, she doesn't want to leave, N." Zorua sighed. "She's grown attached to you now_. She feels bad. She thinks she's done something to upset you. How can you just let it go like that? Don't you feel bad?"

"She won't like her life if she stays with us. I can't let yet another Pokémon get hurt in battle. She doesn't feel bad. She shouldn't feel bad. She has done nothing wrong. I have done the wrong thing here by capturing her in the first place, and for that, I feel terrible, I am the guilty one." N pocketed the Pokéball and began walking along Route 2.

The Purrloin followed him, not wanting to say goodbye so soon. She quite liked having a Trainer. Having someone to rely on and that could protect her was a good feeling. But to her dismay, he turned around and shook his head. She took one last glance at him before walking away into the bushes without looking back, knowing that she would never see him again. Knowing that she would never accept another Trainer as she wouldn't want to hurt their feelings like she had his.

N couldn't help but take one last glance at the rustling bushes where the Purrloin would now be free. He then turned to Zorua, before saying, "I'd probably release you, too, if…"

"_If I had a Pokéball and didn't willingly follow you everywhere you went_," finished Zorua. "_Yeah, I figured that. But I'm your only friend, so what else am I meant to do?_" N shook his head calmly. Most people would be insulted by someone saying that, but not N, he didn't really feel insulted by anything.

"I have friends…"

"_Pokémon friends, yeah, but face it, you've never had a human friend, unless you count Anthea and Concordia, but they're your foster sisters, so I guess they don't really count…_" N just shook his head and kept walking. Zorua looked back at the city, feeling a little hatred for Ghetsis and his thoughts. He wondered how many sad Pokémon that would have been without Trainers since yesterday and were now left to fend for themselves. Then he remembered... the girl who'd rebelled. The girl who'd said no. That gave him new hope. If there were more people like that, then some people would always be with Pokémon. He understood N's thoughts perfectly clearly, but he couldn't help thinking some of the things were dodgy due to some of the things Pokémon had said when being released.

"_Maybe we'll see that girl again…_" he muttered to himself."_He must have seen something in her. He just doesn't know that yet…_" He shook his head slowly and sighed. "_Humans_."

-.-.-

After breakfast, White, Cheren and Bianca exited the Pokémon Center after a good amount of time for White to reclaim her adventurous, confident personality and get rid of any last feelings of tiredness that she would have felt otherwise.

"Alright, I'm going to get going," announced Cheren, standing up and grabbing his bag. He looked over the forest in the direction of the next town somewhat wishfully, an adventurous look in his eyes. "I'll see you guys in Striaton City tonight. Or tomorrow if you're Bianca." He then smirked at Bianca's reaction, pulled out his map and left.

"Let's have a battle when we get there, okay?" Bianca said, before leaving as well, apparently determined to prove to Cheren that she could get there that day. White was left standing with Oshawott outside the Pokémon Center. Thoughts ran through her head about the dream and seeing the boy who she had suspicions of being in her dream, though her in-denial self thought otherwise. Why had she dreamed about Team Plasma and _possibly _N? Back then, she didn't even know they existed, let alone enough to dream about them in such detail like it was actually happening at that moment. She shook her head briskly, the thoughts beginning to overrun any thoughts in her head that actually made sense.

"Probably just a coincidence…" she muttered, trying to convince herself, but something in her head told her it was far from that. It was somehow too detailed and realistic to be a coincidence, and White didn't really dream much anyway, let alone dream of a team of idiots.

She stepped out onto Route 2, which wasn't really different at all to Route 1, though it did have a more adventurous, challenging feel to it. She'd heard Route 2 was the place where most rookie Trainers gathered to train, and she was excited to know that she would get some good training in before her first Gym battle. Sure enough, the second she stepped out onto the new ground, she was bumped into by a kid who looked like he was trying to hard to dress like a cool kid, with a long, baggy, orange t-shirt that fell about halfway down his thighs and shorts that were way too long to be actually shorts, but too short to be pants.

"What the…" he said, shaking his head and looking up, glaring at her confidently. "What, you think you're so tough that you can just run into me? Huh, huh?" He glared up at her and made his hands into fists as if he was a boxer, jumping back and forth to the left and right as if ready to plant a fist right on White's nose.

White almost burst out laughing. This was probably the most hilarious thing she'd seen in her life. The kid went about up to her shoulders, possibly shorter, but was glaring up at her as if he thought he was about twice the height of her and actually had enough muscle to look like more than a twig.

"You bumped into me," she snickered, but this didn't help the kid's act of _attempted _toughness. Very badly attempted, I might add, but at least he was trying. Does he get points for that?

"Well, how about we settle this matter with a battle?" he said confidently, pulling out a Pokéball and holding it out to her. "Or are you too scared?" He pouted his lip and wiped his eyes in a baby-like fashion, apparently trying to mock her, though he was doing a better impression of himself than anything.

"Ugh, whatever…" grumbled White, pulling out Lillipup's Pokéball. Although she didn't know how tough this kid was in battle, or how long he'd been a Trainer for, where as she'd been travelling for barely a day. Though she did consider the fact that he was an overconfident ten-year-old and had to be a rookie due to the fact that he was on the second route of the dozens of tougher ones throughout the region. The two found a large clearing and stood facing a few meters away from each other, readying their Pokémon to be sent out.

"I have the toughest Pokémon ever!" yelled the boy, holding up his Pokéball in a dramatic pose. A little overly dramatic for White's liking. "We've been travelling together for months."

"Great…" muttered White, trying to ignore his long bragging session about how cool and tough his Pokémon was, where as she had a Lillipup and an Oshawott. Though knowing what she'd seen from this kid so-far, he was probably lying.

Go, Patrat!"

"Eh?" White stared at the kid as he sent out his "extremely tough" Pokémon. Yep, her suspicions were right; the kid was an overconfident liar. "Alright, go, Lillipup!" Lillipup landed on the ground and instantly started chasing her tail, yapping happily for a few seconds before noticing the Patrat she was to battle and skidding to a halt, glaring at him determinedly and growling as menacingly as a baby dog can.

"Ha, you think a mere Lillipup can beat my super epic Patrat?" laughed the kid, placing a hand on his stomach to mock White more. "Don't make me…"

"Lillipup, use Tackle."

"Hey, I wasn't ready!" he yelled, as Lillipup rammed into his Pokémon. The boy seemed absolutely devastated as he put his hands on his head and jumped around in panic, before regaining his composure and ordering his first command. "Ugh, you'll pay for that! Patrat, use Leer!"

"We've seen this before…" muttered White. "Okay, Lillipup, use Bite, but don't look at its eyes!" Lillipup nodded and bit Patrat on the tail, letting out a small snarl as she sank her teeth into the furry fleck. "Now throw it!"

"It will take more than that to beat my Patrat! Now, use Tackle!" Lillipup got hit by the charging Patrat, and the kid, assuming it was the best attack in the world when it was actually one of the weakest, cheered loudly. "Hah, I'll bet we KO'd it!"

"Or not," said White, as Lillipup landed on the ground on all four feet as if she'd never been hit. "Finnish it now, Lillipup, use Tackle!"

Then it was all over, and the kid seemed to take it pretty hard, as he looked extremely depressed all of a sudden. He stomped over to her, before beginning to yell at her.

"Your win was a fluke!" he called, looking like he was about to cry. He returned his Patrat to a Pokéball. "Just remember that!" White rolled her eyes. Mr. Tough Act wasn't very tough after all.

"What an ego on that one…" she muttered. "Lillipup, good job!" Lillipup ran up to her and leaped into her arms, almost knocking her over. White laughed and patted her on the head as the kid stomped away angrily. "He treats his Patrat like it's freaking Arceus…"

She continued down the route without too many more disturbances, other than battling a girl with a Purrloin along the way. The girl seemed to be obsessed with the cuteness of Pokémon and spent more time fussing over Oshawott than she did actually battling White, and even then the battle consisted mainly of the girl accusing White of discriminating against Purrloin, so Oshawott took the Purrloin down pretty easily.

The last battle was just outside Striaton City, and it was Lillipup versus Lillipup, and the two Trainers kept getting confused about whose Pokémon was whose. If White hadn't pulled out her sandwich at the end of the battle then they probably would have ended up taking the wrong Lillipup home. Her Lillipup seemed to have a thing for sandwiches, and White once again went without lunch, though it was already afternoon and she was almost at Striaton City anyway.

Unfortunately, just as she was about to step past the "Welcome to Striaton City: Home of Culinary Arts" sign, she was once again delayed from making to into the city as Bianca came running up to her, waving her arms frantically in the air and grinning madly in normal Bianca-fashion.

"White, wait!" she called, skidding to a halt in front of her. "How about we have a battle?" She bent over, placing her hands on her knees for support while she panted like mad. It seemed like she'd been chasing White for awhile now.

"It's a little sudden, though…" said White, looking around longingly at the "Culinary Arts" part of the signboard. "And I'm hungry…"

"Oh, don't worry; it'll just be a quick one, right, Tepig?" Tepig grunted and shot flames out of its nostrils, singing the ground and sending embers flying everywhere. White sighed.

"Alright, whatever…" She pulled out her Pokéball and Bianca punched the air in victory.

"YES!" she yelled excitedly. "I'm so pumped! Okay, go, Lillipup!"

"Okay, I'll use Oshawott, then, so they don't get mixed up…" White recalled the confusion that had occurred last time two Lillipup had been used in the same battle and, though she wanted to save Oshawott for Tepig, she figured it wasn't worth going through the confusion again, only this time it would be without a sandwich.

"Osha!" cried Oshawott, as she landed on the ground and glared at Bianca's Lillipup. As she did so, she slashed her shell through the air, as if screaming, "Look how tough I am! Think you can take this? Try me!"

"Okay, use Tackle, Lillipup!" called Bianca.

"Dodge, Oshawott, then use Tackle!" Lillipup, who was charging extremely fast and not really paying attention to where it was going, didn't realise Oshawott had dodged, and it ran straight into the nearest tree. This was closely followed with a hit on the head by an apple falling from said tree, and that was followed by a Water Gun from Oshawott, and it was soon knocked out due to not being able to do much else as the apple that hit her head had half knocked her out and sent her wobbling around with swirls where her eyes should have been.

"Okay, return, Lillipup," called Bianca. She then looked at Tepig. "You're up!"

"Return, Oshawott!" said White. She then pulled out Lillipup's Pokéball. "Go, Lillipup!" For once, Lillipup didn't chase its tail when it came out. Instead, it began rolling on the ground and playing with a small stick that had fallen out of the tree when it got head-butted by Lillipup, which wasn't much better than chasing her tail, but at least she wouldn't get dizzy. White sweatdropped. "Lillipup, we're battling!"

"Tepig, use Ember!" Tepig obeyed instantly and shot a stream of burning hot embers at Lillipup, which singed the grass as it went by, leaving a long trail of ash where it marked. Lillipup came out badly burned, but still standing.

"Okay, use Bite, Lillipup!"

"Dodge it, Tepig, then use Ember again!"

White soon realised she'd need to use an attack with further range in order to even hit Bianca's Tepig without having to push through an Ember first, which was pretty much impossible with how undertrained her Lillipup was, so she withdrew Lillipup and sent out Oshawott again. The two Pokémon had a little staring contest for a moment before Bianca yelled out, "Ember, Tepig!"

"Water Gun, Oshawott!"

The attacks collided, before exploding and sending both Pokémon flying backwards, but they managed to stand upright again.

"Great, Oshawott, now use Tackle!"

"Ember, Tepig!"

The battle went on for awhile, but the two Pokémon kept shrugging off attacks and getting up again. Finally, however, Tepig fell to the ground due to Oshawott having the type advantage over the Ember, which barely did anything to her.

"Nice job! Return, Oshawott!" called White.

"Wow, you're one tough cookie, White!" said Bianca happily. "Well, I'd better go train more so I won't lose again. I'll beat you next time, I promise! See you later." She then began walking back onto Route 2, but stopped suddenly and turned back around. "Oh, yeah, Cheren's at the Trainers' School if you want to go and see him."

"Okay, thanks, Bianca," called White, waving to her as she left. She then turned around and headed into the city. All in all, it was very simple. There wasn't much to it. A Pokémon Center, of course, like all main cities must have, and a few simple houses on the outskirts. There was a sign awhile away pointing to the Dreamyard—White would have to check it out later—and, according to Cheren, there was a researcher named Fennel somewhere in the city.

Figuring Lillipup would need to be healed after being singed multiple times, White decided to go straight to the Pokémon Center, figuring she should give her Pokémon some rest before they battled again, as she'd probably end up taking on Cheren at the Trainers' School. She hoped, anyway, and she'd probably need Lillipup to take out the Snivy. Knowing Cheren, he'd have some little strategy up his sleeves that would mean the end for White in a battle with him.

While she was waiting for her Pokémon to be healed, she overheard a group of Trainers talking something about liberation, and she figured that Team Plasma had been in Striaton City, too. The thought of them made her sick to her stomach. That guy, Ghetsis, seemed to be just trying to manipulate peoples' minds with fancy words and a soft voice. It wouldn't work on her, though. It pained her to think it would work on anyone. The group talking about it seemed to be heavily considering releasing their Pokémon, and White felt the strong urge to run up and protest, but she decided against it. Hopefully they'd come to their senses before they ruin their relationship with Pokémon forever.

"White, your Pokémon are healed!" called Nurse Joy into the speaker, and White snapped out of her thoughts and went to pick up Oshawott and Lillipup's Pokéballs, though she did so rather absentmindedly as half her mind was still on Team Plasma and the hope that the group would not release their Pokémon. They seemed sad doing so and were staring at their Pokéballs with looks in their eyes that were filled with guilt and sorrow.

"That idiot Team Plasma…" grumbled White, storming past the ground and exiting the center. "They're changing people's lives for the worst. How can they think it's a good thing they're doing?" She then shook her head. "I guess there'll always be stupid people in this world.

Upon exiting the Pokémon enter, she decided that finding Cheren and challenging him would be the best bet, but first she had to figure out the where the school was. The town was surprisingly hard to navigate around when she was in the depth of it, and she had to pull out a map to see where she was going. Knowing Cheren, however, she probably had a decent amount of time to find the place as he'd spend a good few hours making sure he had memorized every single word he'd read. Lucky for her, too, as she'd probably spend most of her afternoon trying to figure out how to navigate without walking in circles numerous times.

White eventually found a large map of the city on a sign on the side of the road, which was much easier to read than her town map, but even then the place still seemed just as confusing, if not more. There were more streets and pathways than she'd expected, and she wondered if it would have been better if she hadn't looked at the map in the first place and just followed signs. Eventually, she managed to figure out its meaning and all the roads and where exactly the school was, so she followed the path and eventually found where she wanted to go.

As soon as she walked in, she found herself in a hallway with only one direction, which led to a large room full of evenly placed desks and numerous rows of books about Pokémon, the Unova Region, Pokémon Abilities, and much more. White looked around a little until she saw Cheren at the back of the room holding a book that seemed to be about status ailments. She walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to drop the book.

"What the…?" he said, turning around quickly. "Oh, hi, White."

"Hi, Cheren." She laughed, picking up the book for him and handing it back to him. "What're you studying?"

"Status ailments," he said simply, beginning to write on the board again. "You know, status problems and their effects on Pokémon. Say, do you want to have a battle?"

"It's what I came for," said White eagerly, grinning at him. "Where can we have it, though?" She looked around, figuring that a room as small as the room they stood in wasn't the best place for a battle that would involve a Water-type, especially with all of the books and shelves located around the building. White pictured the outcome, and it definitely wasn't good.

"We can have it in the battlefield outside the school," said Cheren. "Come on, I'll show you."

White followed Cheren out the back of the school to see that there was was, in fact, a large room containing a Pokémon battlefield, which had obviously been used recently as there were claw marks in the dirt and scratches on the walls. It was a rather magnificent room. It even had targets on the back wall for aiming practice and a pool of water surrounding the field, obviously for training Water-types. The two stood at either ends of the field in the small boxes marked out for the Trainers to stand in.

"We'll have a two on two battle, alright?" called Cheren, and White nodded quickly, pulling out Lillipup's Pokéball. "Alright then, go, Purrloin!"

"Go, Lillipup!"

Lillipup's determination pulled them through in this fight, as she could take Purrloin's scratch quite a few times with still enough energy to fight back, but she was pretty worn out but the end of the battle as she wasn't as agile as Purrloin, so White was forced to switch to Oshawott to battle Snivy, and though it wasn't the best matchup, it would still be entertaining to have a starter Pokémon versus starter Pokémon battle.

"Oshawott, Tackle!"

"Snivy, grab it with Vine Whip!" Oshawott was stopped in her tracks as Snivy snatched her up with vines and held her up, causing Oshawott to struggle, waving her arms feebly and pointlessly. Cheren just laughed, and White growled at him. "Throw it, Snivy!" Oshawott squealed as she was hurled across the room and into the wall with a loud _crash_.

White wasn't really sure what to do. The only attack Oshawott had at long range was Water Gun, which wouldn't do much at all against Snivy, who decided to continue to throw her across the field and slam her into the wall. Finally, White had an idea while Oshawott was taking her sixth flight across the room.

"Use Water Gun at the wall, Oshawott!" commanded White, and Oshawott hesitated for a moment before doing so, but then realised what White was trying to do. Both Cheren's Pokémon and Cheren himself seemed confused at the strategy White was planning up, but he knew better than to underestimate her. Water Gun had just enough power to stop her from crashing head-on into the wall, and also enough power to energize her Tackle, which hit Snivy hard when she bounced back, but not quite hard enough to knock it out.

"Snivy, whip it now with Vine Whip!"

"We're back in the game now, Cheren!" White laughed, clapping her hands. "Dodge them all, Oshawott, then use Water Gun."

"Use your vines to dodge it!" Snivy stopped attacking Oshawott and instead pushed itself up to the roof with its vines. Unfortunately for Cheren, his Pokémon now couldn't really dodge much else, and got hit with a direct Water Gun. Finally, Snivy was knocked out. Not from the Water Gun, but from the impact of hitting the ground from a good five meters up in the air. The vines underneath him had collapsed when it lost its concentration and it had fallen so hard it made a small, Snivy-shaped mark in the ground.

"Great Job, Oshawott!" cheered White, returning her to her Pokéball, as she was clearly about to collapse.

"You have a good strategy…" complimented Cheren, walking up to her, Snivy's Pokéball still in his hand. White laughed quietly.

"Well, I wouldn't really call it a strategy…" she said. "I sort of just though of it at the last minute…"

"Still, your thinking will help you through tougher battles," said Cheren, adjusting his glasses. "We'd better get to the Pokémon Center, it's already seven o'clock, and Bianca will probably be at the Pokémon Center already." Cheren thought about this for a moment before shaking his head. "Actually, she's probably gotten herself lost, but she'll be there soon…"

White nodded and the two left, the female of the two feeling even more excited about her upcoming Gym battle.

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**Misa: *Wipes tear from eye* Huh, what? I'm not crying, I just got Dualrivalshipping in my eyes. *Sobs uncontrollably***

**Uh, but yeah, as you can see, I finished it. I actually didn't really do much to change this, just added a bit more detail. Either way I added around five pages to the chapter, so I guess it was worth it. I'll see you next time, and make sure to review!**


	4. Dreamyards and Gym Battles

**Pokémon: Black and White**

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**Misa: Well, this is the third chapter I've written today, though I didn't really do much to it at all. I just fixed up the battle scene a bit, though I think the bits that I did edit flow better in general. Anyway, I don't own Pokémon, much like I don't own more than five dollars. If I don't own that, how could I own a world known franchise? Gosh, I can't believe I remind you of this every chapter…**

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"Ready, Oshawott?" said White, looking down at her Pokémon, who was looking up determinedly up at her.

"Osha, Oshawott!" she cried, holding up her shell proudly. The morning of their first Gym battle had arrived, and needless to say the two were completely pumped. Perhaps a little too pumped for their own health. At least they had Lillipup to lighten the mood, as the puppy was running around in circles, chasing her tail as usual.

"Okay, but let's go to the Dreamyard first. I think Lillipup needs a little more determination training…" White laughed, looking down at her overexcited Lillipup. "Calm down, Lillipup… save some energy for the Gym, okay? Oh, and by the way, _you're never going to catch it!_" Lillipup stopped chasing her tail and looked up at White, panting slightly. She yapped happily, causing White to sweatdrop and question whether the puppy would _ever _be ready enough for a Gym battle. "Okay, let's go…"

She left the Pokémon Center and stepped out onto the morning streets of Striaton City. The sun radiated onto her and lightened her mood a little. Even though it was only seven o'clock in the morning and the sun was still hiding behind the numerous buildings in the city, the roads were already crowded with people, most of them headed to work or school. White struggled to push and dodge past them while keeping Lillipup and Oshawott intact, but eventually made it to the somewhat quieter Dreamyard. When she entered, it seemed like it was still night. The trees blocked any rays of sun getting through, and the few streaks of light that did seemed more like silvery moonlight than burning hot sun. It was rather beautiful, but White didn't have time to focus on beauty.

"Okay, hopefully there'll be some Trainers here," said White, stepping through the large metal gate with some swirly pattern weaved through the metal bars. To her surprise, there were actually quite a few Trainers, though most of them were already preoccupied with their own training. The only Trainer she noticed who wasn't training with someone else was a short girl with dark brown hair who was sitting on a bench, fiddling with her pale green skirt and fixing the buttons on her white blouse. White approached her to see she had a (rather undersized) Purrloin sitting next to her, looking quite proud as it licked its paw, not really paying attention to anyone else around it.

"Oh, hello!" said the girl cheerfully. "Did you come to train?" White nodded.

"Yeah, we're challenging the Gym later, but my Lillipup needs a little more training," she explained, gesturing to her curious Pokémon, who was now sniffing at Purrloin, much to the cat's displeasure. "My name's White."

"My name's Erin, and this is Purrloin!" said the girl, looking down at her Pokémon. "She, err, doesn't do much…" On the contrary, the Purrloin seemed to be doing everything she could to avoid lashing out at Lillipup.

"I can see that," laughed White. "Are you here to train, too?"

"Not really. My Purrloin's still sort of young, so we don't really battle too much. I plan on travelling when we get stronger, though. We sort of just like sitting here and observing battles so we can pick up strategies. Are you looking for someone to battle with?"

"Uh, yeah, but everyone seems a little busy at the moment…"

"I'm not. I'm sure we can battle just this once, right, Purrloin."

"Meow?" Purrloin looked up confusedly at the two, still holding her paw in suitable licking position and determinedly pulling its gaze from Lillipup, who was now knocking its elegant tail back and forth with an amused look on her face

"I, umm, I'll take that as a yes…" mumbled Erin, though Purrloin didn't seem too keen on the idea. "Okay, let's go!"

The two found a clearing a little way away from the rest of the Trainers and stood apart from each other, their Pokémon standing in front of them and staring each other down, waiting for their Trainers to issue the all-important first command.

"Purrloin, go!"

"Lillipup, you're up!"

-.-.-

"Dream mist?" said one of the Team Plasma grunts, staring up at their new king confusedly, who nodded. "Dream mist" didn't sound like a thing Team Plasma could use. It sounded more like something a two-year-old girl would make out of the steam of boiling sugar and pink food colouring in water.

"Yes. You get it from a Pokémon called Munna in the Dreamyard. Ghetsis says we can use it to show people Pokémon's dreams," explained N. "But don't be violent when getting it. Don't force it out of the Pokémon. Try to befriend it. It should give you some dream mist if you're nice to it."

"Wouldn't dream of it, my king!" said the other grunt, though there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice, which went unnoticed by N, who nodded and walked away. Zorua stared behind the two, glaring at them, though it also went unnoticed.

"_I'm not too sure about those two_…" he muttered, shaking his head in suspicion and slight annoyance to N's attitude to the two.

Once N and Zorua were gone, the two grunts looked at each other and grinned, mischievous looks in both pairs of eyes.

"I think they can wait awhile for that mist stuff," said the first one, and the second one nodded in agreement. "Let's go get some breakfast, then we'll take a bit of a break." Though "a bit of a break" was obviously an understatement for the two grunts.

"_Are you sure you can trust them, N?_" said Zorua, looking up at N, who didn't seem to be paying attention. "_N!_"

"I heard you," he muttered, though he appeared to be in deep thought. "Of course. They'll get it for me."

"_I mean them doing it kindly_," sighed Zorua. "_In case you haven't noticed, they're not the kindest of people… if they get it at all, that is. I'm not sure of they'll even bother._"

"They'll be fine," said N. "They want Pokémon liberation as much as I do. Besides, they won't defy their king."

"_I wouldn't be too sure about that_…"

-.-.-

"Maybe we should take a break," said White, as the two Pokémon stared at each other, panting heavily, though at the word "break" the two collapsed onto the floor due to tiredness. They hadn't exactly battled to the point of exhaustion, but the glares they were sharing took up a lot of energy in their facial muscles. Even then, Erin and White couldn't stop the two Pokémon's rivalry, so they let it slide while they were battling.

"Yeah, we don't want to drain all their energy," agreed Erin. "But due to their little staring contest it might be a little late for that… alright, Purrloin, return!"

A few minutes later, the two were finished packing up and gathering the supplies they'd pulled out while battling and were heading back into town to find a good place to eat. Lillipup was trotting along happily behind White, apparently relieved that she didn't have to worry about Purrloin anymore.

"So, was Purrloin your first Pokémon?" said White, as the two walked through the streets, looking around eagerly for the best place to grab a bite to eat. Erin nodded in response, looking around Striaton with a certain shine to her big brown eyes, which had previously been dull without much emotion. Just simple brown that didn't really reflect much. When memories entered them, though, the girl looked truly mystifying and thoughtful.

"Yeah, I got her as an egg as a gift from my dad a few months ago," she said. "She hatched pretty soon after that, and once she's older and tougher we're going to start travelling."

White meant to reply, but she was cut off by a squeal that could only come from Bianca.

"Whiiiiiiiite!" she called, skidding to a halt behind the two and panting. Tepig followed after her, though he didn't seem tired at all. "What time did you leave this morning? Why didn't you tell me?"

"About seven," said White. "You weren't awake, and unlike _you _I didn't want to wake anyone, so I just left, figuring I'd find you later." White then turned to her companion, who was looking between the two confusedly. "Oh, right. Erin, this is Bianca. Bianca, this is Erin. I met her at the Dreamyard."

"You already went to the Dreamyard?" said Bianca, sparkles in her eyes. "Oh my gosh, was it good?"

"It was, err, okay…" mumbled White. "Kinda pretty, I guess. It seems like it's always night in there, though. We were just about to go get lunch. You wanna come?"

"Oh, yes!" chirped Bianca. "Where are you going?"

"The restaurant at the Gym, that way I can get straight to my battle right after we eat." White had determination in her voice and eyes, which scared Bianca a little.

"Y-you're already taking on the Gym?" she said, staring at White in disbelief. "But we only just got here!"

"Exactly, there isn't a more perfect time to have a battle!"

"Uh, are we going to go?" cut in Erin awkwardly, and White and Bianca turned to her.

"Oh, right!" they said together, causing a sweatdrop to form on Erin's face.

"You two are childhood friends, then?" said Erin, as the three sat down at a table and began reading the menu, searching through it for something that looked good, which was pretty much everything.

"Yeah. Me, Bianca and Cheren were pretty much the only kids in Nuvema Town, so we grew up together…"

"Who's Cheren?" asked Erin, looking around as if he was going to appear out of thin air.

"Oh, right…" said Bianca hastily, but White cut her off.

"Well, speak of the devil," she laughed, as Cheren walked into the café, holding his notebook and jotting down notes on it. Apparently he could appear out of thin air on cue. He seemed to be contemplating the place a lot. "Yeah, that's Cheren."

"Heeeeeeeeeeeey!" called Bianca, waving her arms in the air and almost knocking White's glass of water off of the table. "Over here, Cheren!" Cheren came over without a word and sat down next to White. He didn't look up until he noticed Erin gazing at him with wide, sparkly, somewhat creepy eyes.

"Who's this?" he said bluntly, staring at her confusedly. White could feel the tension and tried to break it, though it was hard. Erin was gazing at Cheren, looking as if she were in a trance. Cheren was staring back at her, though he didn't seem too thrilled by her presence. Bianca was glaring at Erin with a look in her eyes that White had never seen before. White was stuck in the middle of it all, and no one was paying any attention to her.

"Umm, this is Erin, I met her at the Dreamyard," stammered White, and Erin automatically burst into liveliness at the introduction.

"Hi, as White just told you, I'm Erin. My favourite colour is sky blue and I grew up right here, in Striaton City. My Pokémon is a two month old Purrloin that isn't that tough yet, but we're going to get stronger. I have two brothers and a sister and I live in that house over there, but of course you can't see it yet as there's a wall in the way..." She stopped suddenly to gasp for breath, in which Cheren took the opportunity to casually hold out a hand for her to shake. "Meep…" she squeaked, seeming a little surprised that _Cheren was looking at her oh my Arcues is this a dream or something_?

"I didn't really ask for your whole life story, but I guess if you're friends with White, then…"

"We can be friends?"

"More or less…"

"Best friends?"

"Umm, not qui-…"

"Boyfriend and…"

"I'm going outside!" cut in Bianca, bashing her hands on the table, and this time she _did _knock White's glass of water off of the table. She stood up rather suddenly and stomped out the door of the café. The three stared after her as she did so, Cheren looking a little more confused than the other two.

"What's her deal?" asked Erin, her pace a little slower than it had been, much to Cheren's relief. She didn't seem rude, more curious, even somewhat guilty, like she wanted to know what was wrong with Bianca. "Was it my fault? Did I say something wrong?"

"Don't worry about it," said White, shaking her head. "Knowing Bianca you just said something that got on her nerves a little but wouldn't really affect anyone else. You wouldn't have known."

"Would you three like to order?" White looked up to see a boy with flaming, spiky red hair and matching eyes looking down at them, a notepad in one hand, a pen in the other. He was tapping the pen down on the paper rather impatiently, though he seemed to be holding the restlessness back in order to be polite.

"Well…" said White, looking desperately over at Cheren, who shrugged.

"I'll go see if she wants anything…" he muttered, before making his way out of the café.

"We'll be a few minutes yet," said White, and the boy nodded.

"By the way, I heard you're looking for a Gym challenge?" he said, smirking slightly.

"Y-yes!" White nodded eagerly. "Do you know the Gym Leader?"

"Yeah, you could say that. Well, I know the other two Gym leaders."

"_Other _two?" said White, and the boy nodded.

"I'm Chilli, and I'm one of the three Striaton City Gym Leaders. My brothers are the other two Leaders, and I'm sure they'd be happy to accept your challenge. Come and see us in the back room when you're ready."

At that point, Cheren and Bianca came walking back towards their table. Bianca seemed to be forcing a smile that freaked White out a little as it was obviously unnatural but almost spread from ear-to-ear, where as Cheren was looking as mutual as ever, if not a little relieved that they could get back to normal. Well, as normal as you can be in their group. Erin grinned at them as the two sat back down.

"Can we eat now?" asked White, once again being left to break the awkwardness between the group. Bianca looked at her, seeming to be forcing her eyes away from Cheren and Erin.

"Of course we can eat! There's so much on this menu and I wonder what I'll have it's just such a hard choice…"

Bianca continued to babble on about absolutely nothing all through lunch.

About an hour later, White, Bianca, Cheren and Erin made their way into the back room for White's Gym battle. White and Cheren took the lead, Bianca and Erin taking up the rear with a horrible silence between the two, the occasional glare being shot either way. White and Cheren didn't need to have known Bianca for their whole lives to know that she hated Erin, just as they _hadn't _known Erin for their whole lives and could already tell she disliked Bianca. Perhaps they were rivals in who could talk fastest, White didn't know, and quite frankly she didn't care due to the fact that her Gym battle was the one thing on her mind at that moment.

"What did you say to Bianca?" whispered White to Cheren, who shrugged.

"That she was going to have to eat otherwise I'll shove the food down her throat whether she likes it or not," he said simply. "Then she said that she was "perfectly fine and nothing at all was bothering her whatsoever" or something along those lines, but she didn't sound that convincing." His voice went abnormally high-pitched when reciting Bianca's line, apparently trying to mock her, though he wasn't doing a very good job of it and White just found it funny that it sounded like his voice was cracking.

"Right." White nodded as they stepped out onto a large battlefield with a small stage at the back. On it stood Chilli and two other people, assumed to be the other Gym Leaders. One had light green hair spiked up at the front and slightly nervous-looking pale green eyes. The other looked rather smug, and had blue hair that was neatly flattened down and parted to the side that covered his right eye. His uncovered eye revealed that he had blue eyes. A small smirk was spread across his face.

"I'm Chilli!" said Chilli, spinning around. "I use Fire-type Pokémon!"

"I'm Cress!" said the blue-haired one. "I use Water-type Pokémon!"

"I-I'm Cilan," muttered the green-haired boy, almost falling over when he tried to spin around gracefully like the other two had. "I like Grass-type Pokémon."

"Now, the Pokémon you started with will determine which one of us you verse," explained Chilli. "So, who was your first Pokémon?"

"Well, I started with Oshawott…" said White, and Chilli and Cress looked at Cilan, who sighed and admitted the fact that he had to battle.

"Well, looks like you're battling me…" he muttered. "Let's get going, then."

Erin, Bianca and Cheren took their seats in the stands, Erin sitting a little too close to Cheren for his own comfort, and Bianca skulking a few seats away from them, throwing the occasional bitter glance at the two, which was _very _un-Bianca-like. Everything for her was rainbows, sugar and butterfly stickers, not hatred and bitter things.

"Shall we begin?" said Cilan once the two had taken their places. White nodded and pulled out Oshawott's Pokéball just as Cilan called, "Alright, go, Lillipup!"

"Go, Oshawott!"

The battle went smoothly for the first few minutes, both of the battlers looking pretty evenly matched when as neither of them looked ready to back down, but that was before Lillipup started using Work Up, causing it to become extremely overpowered, shrugging off pretty much everything Oshawott threw at it.

"Ugh, I have to figure out how to attack this thing…" muttered White, as Oshawott was beginning to grow extremely tired from constantly throwing pointless Tackles and Water Guns at the now pretty much invincible Lillipup. "Why can't my Lillipup be that determined?"

"Work Up, one more time, Lillipup!" called Cilan. Damn it, why did he suddenly become so confident when he battled? White stared desperately at Lillipup, who was staring at the ground with its eyes squinted and its fur glowing red, not moving at all except for its small quivering body.

Hold on…

It wasn't moving at all.

"Tackle, Oshawott!" White called, and Oshawott charged at the Lillipup, who was caught by surprise and knocked off its feet, not ready to concentrate or defend itself enough for the Work Up to be of any use. Work Up was a move that required concentration, and that wouldn't work if it was being knocked off of its feet. "Now, Water Gun, quickly!"

Turns out training against Purrloin helped with Oshawott's speed, and Lillipup was down in a matter of seconds after that, lying limply on the floor with swirls in replacement for its eyes.

"Lillipup is unable to battle!" called Cress, who'd agreed to referee the battle. "That means Oshawott wins!"

"Good job, but I still have one Pokémon left!" yelled Cilan, returning Lillipup to its Pokéball. "The star of my show, Pansage!" As he threw the Pokéball, he did a little twirl that was much more graceful than the one he'd attempted when introducing himself.

"Ugh, Grass-type… Okay, Oshawott, return!"

Back in the stands, Cheren was attempting to talk to Bianca, but Erin seemed to misinterpret this as talking directly to her, and kept replying to the questions. Either that or she didn't know Bianca existed.

"I'd like to see how White deals with this when she's only got Lillipup left…" he said to Bianca, who began to reply, but Erin ended up getting all up in Cheren's face, cutting the blonde off completely.

"Oh, well, her Lillipup's really _really _fast. I would know because we've been training together and she can out speed my Purrloin who's also fast and smart and I bet I've trained it really well and _oh my gosh White told me you have a Purrloin too _we have sooooo much in common and…"

"Excuse me," said Bianca rather rudely, grabbing the back of Erin's shirt and pulling her away from Cheren, who looked extremely relieved and sent a thankful glance her way. "Well, remember this is White we're talking about. I'm sure she'll have something in mind."

"Yeah, I guess so…" said Cheren, turning back to watch the battle and ignoring Erin's continued attempts at starting or interrupting a conversation that had absolutely no substance to it.

"Pansage, use Vine Whip!" Pansage shot vines at Lillipup out of the palms of its hands, shooting them straight at Lillipup and attempting to whip her with them. Lillipup, however, was more than ready for this.

"Keep on your feet, Lillipup! Dodge it then use Bite!" Lillipup jumped out of the way of each vine before biting Pansage in the arm. "Now throw it!" As Lillipup hurled it into the air, Pansage went flying across the room, but managed to stop itself from hitting the wall with a vine shot from its left arm. Unfortunately, the left vine wasn't too strong as Pansage now had a large wound on its arm from Lillipup's bite, and it collapsed feebly onto the ground.

"Use Work Up, Pansage!"

"Ugh, not this again…" mumbled White. "Okay, use Tackle, Lillipup!"

"Grab it with Vine Whip, Pansage!" Gaining the power from the move much quicker than Lillipup had, Pansage shot out a vine at Lillipup, and the poor puppy was lifted in mid-charge by Pansage's vines. "I hope you're not planning on using that strategy against me again, Miss White. You see, using the combination of solar power and the energy stored up in Pansage, we can build energy about three times as fast as Lillipup can."

"Damn it…" White thought for a moment, but before she could say anything, she realised Lillipup was being squeezed by Pansage's vines, and seemed to be having trouble breathing. Her mouth was slightly open, gasping for air, her tongue hanging out and a little drop of drool dripping off of it. "Hold on… Hey, Lillipup, use Bite on the vines!" Lillipup just managed to reach down and crunch down on the vines before they could get any tighter, making Pansage drop her. Despite being short of breath, she still managed to land on her feet, though her knees seemed slightly week from the impact.

"Ugh, use Vine Whip, but cover up its mouth this time!" commanded Cilan, but that was pretty much what White wanted him to do. Aiming for the mouth on a Pokémon that knows Bite wasn't the best thing to do, and Cilan seemed to realise this mid-attack when it was too late to stop it.

"Bite the vines again!" she yelled, and Lillipup bit down on the vines multiple times until Pansage had no choice but to retract them. The grass monkey cried out in pain, pulling back the vine, now unable to use them as both the right and left vines had been damaged.

"Good call…" said Cilan. "Now Pansage can't use its vines anymore. This might be a close fight, but we're not giving up that easily."

"Good, because we're not either! Lillipup, use Bite!"

"Use Scratch, Pansage!"

The two Pokémon collided and knocked each other backwards. The battle went on like this for another long while, with both Pokémon being extremely persistent. Eventually, however, both Pokémon fell to the ground at the same time in dead faint, much to White's annoyance; she'd been hoping for Lillipup to beat the Pansage, though she supposed she'd done well as she'd survived a squeeze from vines that would rival Bianca's hugs in terms of tightness.

"Pansage and Lillipup are unable to battle, and I guess since White still has Oshawott, so she's the winner!" announced Cress, pointing his black and white checkered flag to White's side of the field.

"YES!" cheered White. She ran over to pick up Lillipup, who was looking a little disappointed in herself. "Great job, Lillipup. You didn't beat it, but you exceeded expectations, that's for sure."

"That was a good battle, Miss White," said Cilan, walking up to her, along with Chilli and Cress. "You are very deserving of this." Cress handed him a small badge case, which he opened and handed her the badge inside; a long thin one with gold lining surrounding the blue, green and red gems in the middle of it. "This is the Trio Badge. It's official recognition that you've defeated us."

"Thanks," said White, taking the badge from Cilan's hand and placing it in her own badge case.

"Great job, White!" squealed Bianca, running up and hugging her from behind.

"Thanks," laughed White. "Should we go help Cheren?" The two girls turned to the stands to see Cheren attempting to walk past Erin, who was blocking his path out of the stands in attempt to make conversation with him. Naturally, she was talking ridiculously quickly, but Cheren didn't look amused at all. But that didn't mean Bianca didn't.

"Eh, he'll figure it out by himself. Come on, let's go!" chirped Bianca, skipping out of the gym ahead of White, who followed closely behind her.

"For once Cheren'll be the late one," she muttered, before laughing and shaking her head. She was one badge closer to conquering the Unova League; seven more to go.

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**Misa: Four chapters down, two rewrites to go! Keep on reading, and make sure to review, or dare be locked in a room with Erin for two hours. Gosh, that should be a new form of torture…**

**No, I'm kidding. That would be awful. Please don't hurt me. *flinches***


	5. Enter Ashley and Rhys

**Pokémon: Black and White**

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**Misa: The countdown continues with my rewritten chapters! I'll admit, this one isn't my best job, but there's a lot of dialog and not much action, so it's kinda short compared to the others. Still, it's around four-thousand words, which is still about twice as long as the old version. Anywho, I don't own Pokémon, I do own this story. At least I own something… Oh, I also own the two Team Plasma grunts introduced in this chapter, along with Erin and other OC's I make in the future. I guess the Plasma grunts are pretty cool, but I don't see why you'd want to steal Erin anyway…**

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N shook his head in disappointment, staring at the two grunts who were now standing nervously before him. Zorua had been right; they didn't do what he had told them to do. "Why didn't you get the dream mist?" he said calmly, though the two Team Plasma grunts flinched as if he were going to blow up at any moment. They seemed more scared of his calm voice than his angry voice—which they hadn't heard yet, but they were pretty sure it wouldn't be as bad—due to the fact that they felt guilty if he put on the calm tone.

"W-we…" started the first grunt. Pausing mid-sentence, he nudged his partner desperately with his elbow in attempt to get him to explain. The other grunt just shot him a glare.

"W-we forgot…" he said feebly, not able to think up a better excuse because they didn't actually have a better excuse in the first place. As he spoke, he twiddled his thumbs and tried desperately to look anywhere but N.

"You had one simple errand. Honestly, I don't see how you could have possibly forgotten…" N waved his hand in the air dismissively, figuring there was no point arguing with them any further; he'd just waste time getting another grunt for the errand. "I'll have Ghetsis deal with you two later." He dismissed them before turning to the other two grunts behind him, one looking nervous and jittery, the other looking cool and collected, with her arms crossed and her eyes wide, though she was still listening attentively.

"I think I can trust you two a little more, Ashley and Rhys, can I not?" asked N. The male grunt, Rhys, jumped nervously and nodded hastily. Ashley just sighed casually, nodding slightly, though never quite making direct eye contact with their king. She didn't see what was so intimidating about him, but she followed him anyway because that was what she had to do.

"Sure thing," she said, sounding rather bored. "Come on, Rhys."

"Y-yes, Ashley."

The two made their way to the Dreamyard, both of them silent for different reasons. Rhys was too jumpy to talk, where as Ashley was quiet due to contemplating things about her life that she would rather change. Finally giving into the urge to talk about it, she stopped at the gate in front of the Dreamyard and turned to Rhys, who jumped back a little at her sudden pace change.

"You know I hate this job, right?" she said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow whilst tapping a foot and impatiently awaiting Rhys' answer that she'd barely given him two seconds to give. Rhys just smirked, his nervous attitude going away as soon as Ashley began speaking. Something about her constantly bitter tone towards everything cheered him up. It was odd how something like that could cheer him up as he'd known her his whole life and it was somewhat nostalgic to him.

"Of course I do. You do nothing but complain to me the entire time during our breaks." He laughed, remembering earlier times when all she did was complain. "You really haven't changed much since we were kids." Ashley scowled, shaking her head irritably.

"Come on, let's just get this mist stuff before we get a beating from Ghetsis," she snarled. "I guess those two were lucky it was N telling them off. He's not really that scary…" She raised an eyebrow, looking directly at Rhys. "But I guess that's just a matter of opinion."

Rhys sweatdropped. "He's really tall, okay…" he muttered. Ashley snickered.

"Yeah, but that's all he's got on us. He doesn't yell or anything like Ghetsis does. I guess that's a good thing, though… for us, anyway. Good luck to those two when Ghetsis gets his hands on them…"

-.-.-

Cheren, Bianca and White had gathered in the Striaton Pokémon Center to get ready for the morning so they could leave for the next town. On the way out of the Pokémon Center, however, White had remembered something important that she'd been meaning to tell her friends for awhile now; the dream she'd had on the night of her birthday. She suddenly realised that she hadn't told either of them about it, and hadn't really thought about it all that much since the day she'd dreamt it.

"Wait, so you actually dreamed of N and that Ghetsis guy?" Cheren stared at White as if she was a freak, his mouth dropped open in shock. White just shrugged simply as if the fact that she'd dreamt about two creeps was no big deal what-so-ever. That, however, was apparently a matter of opinion.

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure N was getting crowned by Ghetsis. I don't really get it myself." White stared at the thoughtful look on Cheren's face, completely different to Bianca's, who was gazing at White, wide eyed and eager to know more. It was the first time White had talked about the dream since she'd had it, and it probably sounded stupider and stupider the more she said it. "I guess I was trying to convince myself that it wasn't N, but let's face it, it's hard to mistake him for a different person," White added quickly.

"I don't get it, though…" muttered Bianca. "Why on earth would you dream about them before you even knew them?"

"I'm completely baffled about this myself," said Cheren. "But I think I know something that might help. Well, _someone_, anyway." White and Bianca both shot their gaze up to him, curious to know more about it.

"Who?" they both chorused.

"Well, I've heard of a scientist around here named Fennel. She studies stuff like dreams of humans and Pokémon. I told you two about her in passing a few days ago, but I don't think you two were really listening," Cheren said, shaking his head. Actually, he was _sure _they hadn't been listening at all. The girls had never liked to have much to do with Cheren's science talk.

Bianca and White seemed to contemplate this for a moment, White considering whether it was really worth it to waste time on going and getting her dream talked about by some "expert". Other people who heard about it would probably just think she was a freak, but eventually she decided that it couldn't hurt to go.

"Alright, let's go!" she said, pulling Cheren to his feet. Bianca got up soon and followed the two out, though Cheren wasn't walking as fast as the two girls were going, who—now that they knew that the scientist could actually be of use to them, or rather, be of use to White—were more eager than Cheren.

Bianca took over White's job of dragging Cheren as he was now waking slowly along behind them, not as excited to see the scientist now that he would probably have to explain the more complicated stuff to the two girls. White, on the other hand, was feeling exhilarated to no end, and skipped out behind them, eager to find out more about her dream.

The three exited the Pokémon Center. Cheren was still being dragged by Bianca, and he seemed to be desperately trying to slow her down by digging his heals into the dirt, but with no luck. Finally, he managed to stop her by jabbing her in the ribs with his index finger.

"Ouch!" she cried, whirling around and nearly dropping him, as she was the one supporting all of his weight. "What was that for?"

Cheren raised a finger casually and pointed toward the other side of town. "Fennel's house is that way…"

Bianca sweatdropped and turned around hastily. "I-I knew that…"

"Sure you did…"

The three reached Fennel's house around five minutes later and knocked on the door, which was answered by a boy who looked about ten. "What?" he snapped, glaring up at the teenagers. He reminded White of the kid she'd battled on Route 2; overly confident and annoying as heck. Either way, she'd overcome that annoying little kid, and she could overcome this one.

"We're here to see Fennel," said Cheren. The boy shot him a glance that was apparently meant to intimidate him, though it didn't work too well. The kid realised this and cleared his throat in attempt to look mature.

"Uhem, well, she's upstairs, but you can't see her!" He glared menacingly at White, who rolled her eyes and raised a fist, grumbling to herself as she walked up to him, shooting daggers out of her eyes.

"Look, runt, we just want a little word with Fennel, so if you plan on keeping that right arm of yours then I strongly suggest that you…"

"WHITE!" yelled Cheren and Bianca simultaneously, and White shut up instantly.

"Uh, yeah, just let us in," she growled. The boy was now shaking violently due to the fact that he apparently believed White would actually find a way of cutting off his right arm.

"Y-yes, miss…" he mumbled, stepping out of the way of the door and gesturing them inside. White looked rather satisfied with herself, but Cheren and Bianca looked less than comfortable about what she'd just said.

"Remind me to never let White babysit my kids…" muttered Bianca to Cheren.

"I will for you if you do for me," whispered Cheren. The two nodded firmly and shook hands. This went unnoticed by White, who was marching proudly in front of them.

"Fennel is up these stairs," explained the boy, and the three followed his gesture and continued on to walk up the stairs only to enter a room to see a large machine with a computer plugged into it which seemed to be measuring energy waves. There were books around the back of the room, though not exactly placed neatly on the shabby old bookshelf that looked like it'd had one too many things blow up on it. The machine took up most of the room, and a beeping sound emitted from it that would probably drive anyone insane if they listened it for too long. Attached to it was a bed with wires coming out of the pillow connecting it to the machine, and it definitely didn't look like the most comfortable place to sleep.

"Okay, Amanita, turn it on now!" said a tall woman with long, dark blue hair and glasses. A young girl with short brown hair in pigtails on top of her head was standing in front of a large lever. She nodded and grunted as she pulled the lever down to the bottom to turn the machine on. The machine vibrated a little, then a little more, then a _lot_. "No, turn it off, Amanita!" yelled the woman, but Amanita didn't seem to hear her.

"What?" The word that came out of Amanita's mouth caused the woman to start waving her hands violently in the air and scream even louder.

"TURN OFF THE FREAKING…!" But her words were drowned out as one of the large pipes on the machine blew up. The whole room went white with steam, and as it cleared, White saw the woman and Amanita, their lab coats singed and their hair in some crazy hairdo that made them look like a pair of mad scientists from television.

"Sorry, Fennel," mumbled Amanita. Fennel just rolled her eyes, though it was hard to see as the lenses on her glasses were now black and foggy.

"I think we need that dream mist before we try that again…" Fennel sighed. "Alright, back to… Who are you?" Fennel turned to the three teenagers and eyed them suspiciously, though it was hard to tell as they couldn't exactly _see _her eyes through her glasses.

"Uh, I'm Bianca, and this is White and Cheren…" explained Bianca nervously, her face slightly pink, though even that was covered in a thin layer of crusty smoke that had settled itself on her cheeks.

"Oh, I heard about you three from Professor Juniper awhile ago!" chirped Fennel. "You're helping her out with the Pokédex, right?"

"Uh, yeah, but that's not what we came to talk about," said Cheren. He turned to White and nudged her with his elbow. She looked at him questionably, before suddenly remembering what they'd come there for. She stepped up and stared at Fennel, and it wasn't until she was looked down upon that White realised how tall the woman was.

"Oh, right, well, I heard you've been studying dreams…" stammered White. She seemed to have gotten over her confusion and now seemed a little scared of Fennel, or rather, the machine Fennel had created.

"Yep, I have been for years," said Fennel.

"Well, I had this dream where…" White continued on to explain to Fennel what her dream was about, making sure to go into every little detail just incase she missed something important.

"Hmm, well, I've never heard of something like that happening…" muttered Fennel thoughtfully, placing a hand on her chin and stroking it with her long, surprisingly elegant fingers. "You say you'd never met any of those people before, correct?"

"Yeah, well, until after I had the dream, anyway." White's heart was beating faster now, her anticipation overpowering her. She wanted nothing more at that moment than to know about her dream. Unfortunately, she was disappointed by receiving the answer that she hadn't been waiting for.

"Well, I'm afraid I can't help you with that," said Fennel, and White looked at the ground sadly. "I'll be honest; I generally study Pokémon dreams, not human dreams. The most I could say is maybe if you talked to the person you dreamed about, then it might come clear. Sometimes, people have unknown connections that they don't find out about until they actually meet the person."

White thought about this for a moment. Talking to Ghetsis about this, well, she knew that wouldn't work at all. Talking to N probably wouldn't work either. She was hoping she'd never talk to him again; he was weird. And what was this about unknown connections with people? What did that mean? Did it mean she knew N or Ghetsis from before? Or maybe they were long lost siblings or something. No, that would be weird in more ways than the fact that neither of her parents had green hair. Maybe she was adopted… this is going nowhere.

"Well, now that we've got that out of the way, there's something I want to ask of you three," said Fennel. "You see, in the Dreamyard, there is a Pokémon called Munna. Munna give off a substance called dream mist. I can't complete this machine without it, and I need you three to go and get it for me."

White and Cheren looked a little unsure. They were both hoping they could leave the city as soon as they got there in order to go and get their next Gym badge. Bianca, however, looked more than happy.

"Sure! We'll go!" she chirped. White and Cheren sighed.

"Great!" said Fennel happily. "You should be able to find them in the Dreamyard, but they're sort of rare, so you might be there awhile."

White followed behind Cheren and Bianca, a little slower paced than them as she was slightly disappointed that she hadn't found anything out about her dream. Well, anything slightly useful about it. She didn't exactly want to use the whole "Talk to N or Ghetsis" idea, and she really didn't want to think about said "unknown connections" as they generally scared her.

"I guess it'll come clear eventually…" she muttered to herself, before running to catch up to her two friends. "And just to be clear, I'm not adopted."

-.-.-

Ashley stared at the pink dream-Pokémon confusedly. It stared at her back, eyes widened in curiosity at what the human was thinking about. It was quite a beautiful Pokémon, with floral patterns covering its smooth pink skin. "So, how do we get it to spit out the dream mist…?" she muttered, scratching her head. She turned to Rhys hopefully, as if he'd know something, but to her disappointment he just shook his head and shrugged.

"Not sure. It'd be good if lord N gave us a little more information or… WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?" Rhys stopped talking and started yelling when Ashley began to kick the Munna, who let out a painful cry, the curiosity totally evaporated from its face and replaced with pure terror.

"Trying to get it to spit out some of the mist stuff, now help me!" she snapped. Rhys widened his eyes in disbelief. "Bet you didn't have a better plan."

"You're the worst," scowled Rhys. "But I guess I don't want to get in trouble, so…"

Just as he began kicking the Munna, White, Cheren and Bianca got into the Dreamyard and saw the scene.

"Come on, Munna, spit out some Dream Mist!" demanded Ashley, kicking Munna in the side.

"What the heck are you doing?" shrieked Bianca, staring at the Plasma grunts in astonishment.

"Hey, I remember you guys! You're those servant freaks from Team Plasma!" said White. Ashley and Rhys looked rather annoyed.

"Hey, we're not servants!" snapped Ashley.

"Yeah, we're grunts!" Rhys said. "Which is the equivalent of servants I guess, but…"

"Rhys!" Ashley elbowed him in the ribs.

"Sorry, Ash…" mumbled Rhys, rubbing his side.

"Ugh, anyway. Yeah, we're Team Plasma. We battle day and night to liberate Pokémon from foolish humans, and to do that we need Dream Mist from this Munna!" explained Ashley proudly, though in White's opinion, being apart of Team Plasma wasn't something to have pride in.

"I heard." White sighed frustratingly. "Look, kicking a Pokémon isn't going to give you Dream Mist. It'll give you bad karma."

"What do you want with the Dream Mist, anyway?" asked Bianca.

"We're going to use it to show dreams to people and make them want to release their Pokémon," explained Rhys. "We'll show them dreams to manipulate their hearts." Ashley then proceeded in kicking the weak looking Munna, who let out another cry.

"You say other humans are foolish, yet you're kicking a Pokémon let make it give you want you want…" said Cheren. "I sense a bit of irony in this scene."

"You guys are Trainers too, right?" said White, snickering quietly at Cheren's remark.

"That's right, but we're fighting for a different reason," said Ashley, panting slightly from kicking the living daylights out of Munna. "We're fighting for the freedom of Pokémon."

"What about the freedom of your own Pokémon, then?" said White, but Ashley went on without acknowledging the comment.

"To do that, we'll win Pokémon battles and take Pokémon by force," she continued.

"You guys are the dumbest people I've ever met," muttered White.

"Well, I feel sorry for your Pokémon, we'll rescue them from you!" announced Rhys, pulling out a Pokéball.

"Battle? Sounds good to me," said White, pulling out her own Pokéball.

Rhys went down easily as he only had a Patrat, which was no match for White's Oshawott. Cheren took down Ashley's Purrloin with his Snivy while Bianca stood in front of Munna protectively, making sure nothing else could come and attack it. Munna was burying her head into Bianca's stomach, apparently trying to hide from the grunts.

Once both grunts were taken down, they both looked very frustrated, but were still determined to get the Dream Mist. Ashley pushed Bianca out of the way and continued to kick the Munna. Cheren and White rushed over to help her up, and just as they did so, the form of Ghetsis suddenly appeared out of nowhere next to the grunts, seeming to materialize into the air. He looked different somehow, however. His form was somewhat blurred, like he wasn't actually there. Was he just an illusion? It didn't seem realistic to White that someone could just appear into the air like that.

"What are you two doing goofing off?" he snapped. Ashley and Rhys stood up straight and stared at him with fear in their widened eyes. Just then, _another _Ghetsis appeared on the other side of them, this one equally blurred. It hurt White's eyes and mind to see them both there, rippling in place as they performed actions like a real person even though she was pretty sure they weren't real.

"This can't be legit…" muttered White, as the two Ghetsises became one in front of the two grunts.

"I thought we could trust you to fulfill your duties," he said, shaking his head pitifully.

"T-this isn't…" said Rhys.

"…Ghetsis when he's gathering followers or Ghetsis when he's trying to control people by tricking them with speeches…" finished Ashley.

"This is Ghetsis when a plan has failed and he's about to issue a punishment," muttered Rhys. The two looked at each other, then at Ghetsis, then back at each other.

"RUN FOR IT!" they both shrieked, before fleeing the scene.

"Told you…" muttered White, shaking her head and shrugging. " Bad Karma."

"Ghetsis" then disappeared before a Pokémon appeared. It looked like Munna, only it was mostly purple and larger when compared to its pinker and smaller counterpart.

"What was that?" said Bianca. "That Ghetsis guy appeared all over the place, then he…"

"It wasn't real, Bianca," said Cheren, patting her on the shoulder. "I'd say it was a dream produced by that Pokémon there."

"But who is that Pokémon?" asked White, more talking to herself than to her two friends. She stared at the two Pokémon, Munna's eyes filled with sorrow and seemed somewhat scared, where as the larger versions seemed filled with gentleness and a caring nature.

"Oh!" came a voice, and just like that Fennel came rushing up the three in a hurry. "I couldn't wait any longer, so I came over as fast as I could and… _is that a Musharna_?" she yelled, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"Musha?" Musharna stared at Fennel confusedly. Munna looked at it, turning her head to the side, before floating up to Bianca and nuzzling her with her face in thanks. She then let out a small, "Mun!" while looking at Cheren and Bianca, before she turned around and left along with Musharna, looking back at the teenagers once more. Bianca chuckled slightly at the Munna's affection, and even White would admit it was touching. What Fennel had noticed most, however, was the two Pokémon leaving a small amount of pink mist floating in the air where they stood.

Bianca explained what had happened to Fennel through jumbled up speech which didn't make any sense whatsoever as she was talking to fast and couldn't quite seem to figure out how to get some of the words out of her mouth. Fennel just stood there nodding through the whole thing.

"Okay…?" she said. "I think I got that. Musharna must have seen Munna in trouble, so it used its power of making dreams into reality to help it. Which means…" She pulled out an empty flask and approached the pink mist. "It is! This is Dream Mist! This is what I needed! Thanks so much, you guys!" Fennel then bowed, held up the bottle, giggled with glee and rushed out of the Dreamyard with a noticeable spring in her step not even thinking to look back at the Trainers, though Fennel's happiness was a decent enough reward for them. Plus they saved a Munna from Team Plasma, though it only got White more worked up and hatred towards them.

"Uh, I'm going to look for Munna again. Be seeing you guys," announced Bianca, pulling out an empty Pokéball. "I want to catch it if it's okay with that Musharna. She's really sweet and we've already been through so much!"

"I'll go with you," said Cheren. "I want to get some information on the various Pokémon in this area. See you, White." He then rushed after Bianca. White smirked and looked down at Oshawott, imagining images in her mind and creating relatively creepy fantasies.

"Cheren and Bianca, alone in a Dreamyard…" she muttered. Oshawott smirked slightly. "Should we follow or what?" Oshawott shook her head. "You're right, let's just let them be!" sang White, before exiting the Dreamyard. "They'll probably just argue, anyway, but still. I guess we'll leave tomorrow. I know we were going to leave today, but I think we should rest up for now." She looked at the entrance to the Dreamyard and raised a suspicious eyebrow. "But I have a feeling that won't be the last we see of those Team Plasma thugs." She glared into the distance and shook her head. "I'm not going to let them bother me, they're just idiots."

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**Misa: Five down, one to go! After the next rewritten chapter is posted, it'll be back to the first writes from chapter seven onwards. If that isn't clear, they'll be my original versions since I think they're okay in terms of written work, especially compared to the original chapter one *shudder* so I'm not going to rewrite them. Anyway, now that all that pointless stuff is done, make sure to review and I'll see you next time!**


	6. If I Had a Pokedollar

**Pokémon: Black and White**

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**Misa: One more chapter to rewrite, then I'm done! Well, by the time you're reading this I'll already be done rewriting this, and after this chapter it'll all be the first version of chapters, so I haven't and don't plan on rewriting chapter seven onwards. Anywho, Pokémon is not and never will be owned by Misaki Amaya. Instead, I'll stick to writing fanfictions on it, which I do own.**

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White stepped out onto Route 3, the path between Striaton City and Nacrene City, which was the location of the next gym challenge. She'd decided to let her Pokémon out for some air, as it was a wonderful day. However, from what she'd seen so far, she was beginning to wish she hadn't.

Oshawott, who didn't seem as eager as she usually was, was lying in a particularly sunny spot, leaning her head back on a patch of grass and refusing to move. Lillipup, on the other hand, was running around as usual, chasing anything that moved, which was annoying as the wind was blowing numerous leaves around, and leaves move, as do children, other Pokémon and kids' paper airplanes that they no doubt spent at least an hour decorating. It was a handful for White, who was trying to keep an eye on the crazy puppy while attempting to get Oshawott to move.

"Oshawott, come _on!_" she begged, trying to pick up the little blue otter while staying as far away as possible from the shell she wielded.

"Osha, Oshawott…" yawned Oshawott, holding the razor-sharp shell up casually and slashing it in mid-air, only just missing White's face.

"Alright, that's it…" sighed White, pulling out Oshawott's Pokéball. "Look, Oshawott, there's a river at the end of this route near Nacrene City." Oshawott's eyes widened. "If you don't come, though, I'll put you in the Pokéball and you won't be able to go for a swim." Sure, it wasn't a very good threat, actually, it was a terrible threat, but it was apparently enough for her Pokémon.

Oshawott, who didn't previously know that there was a stream nearby, pricked her ears and stood up. She was contemplating whether to make a run for it now and get to the stream before White even got halfway through the route, or go with White and go for a swim after another exhausting day of battling. In her head, the first option seemed a lot more appealing. Then again, White would still have Lillipup who, despite the way she acted, was quite tough when it came down to things and much faster than herself.

"Osha," sighed Oshawott submissively, realising that the images in her head were better than reality. She hopped onto White's shoulder in her usual position, clinging onto her neck. White laughed and stroked her under the chin.

"Let's make that the last time I get forced to bribe you, ok?" said White, winking. Oshawott nodded. The Trainer whistled loudly, and Lillipup came rushing to her side—she wondered why she hadn't just done that before—and the three continued down the route. That is, until Lillipup went running off down the wrong path chasing a flying flower petal and White had to run and grab her.

"Hey, White!" White looked up to see Bianca rushing up to her. She was carrying Lillipup, and White wondered how on earth she managed to catch her. "I believe this is your Lillipup. Mine's in his Pokéball, that and she nearly stole my sandwich out of my bag…"

"Thanks," sighed White, taking the overexcited puppy and clutching her tightly, scratching her behind the ear. "What're you doing here?"

"Oh, didn't you see the sign? This is a day care!" said Bianca, gesturing toward the large sign which only White could possibly miss.

"Wait, that mean's there's kids here, doesn't it?" muttered White.

"That's right!" chirped Bianca. "Isn't it great?"

White looked up to see all the tiny children waddling around and playing with their Pokémon. "It's full of rugrats…" she growled, glaring at all the happy little faces.

"_Children, _White," sighed Bianca.

"You mean stupid little demon rats…"

"Come on, White! Lighten up," chuckled Bianca, grabbing onto White's arm and pulling her towards the playground.

"If I had a Pokédollar for every time you told me to lighten up…" grumbled White. Bianca didn't seem to take notice of her remark as a tiny girl who looked around three-years-old waddled up to them. White breathed in deeply, trying not to look at the disgusting sight. She wasn't the only one, either, as being a day-care, it was full of them. Tiny little toddlers waddling around everywhere and laughing joyfully. She _hated _it.

White shook her head; it was a beautiful day, sunny, with the perfect breeze blowing past her. She was on a route with probably the best scenery around the place, and she had the perfect places for training. Children _weren't _going to ruin her day. _Ever_.

"Excuse me, miss?" she said to White, who shot her a glare.

"What?" snapped White, making the girl jump back. Okay, maybe they did irritate her enough to make her day slightly less good.

"O-oh, I'm sorry…" she mumbled, making to walk away.

"What is it?" demanded White. She was slightly determined to know what the kid wanted as she was trying to train herself to put up with them.

"I-I was just w-wondering i-if I could pat you-your Lillipup…" The girl looked on the verge of tears. White clutched her Pokémon even tighter, though unfortunately not tight enough to keep away from Bianca, who took the puppy and handed it to the girl, whose eyes immediately got brighter.

"Thank you, miss!" giggled the girl, scratching Lillipup behind the ears. Lillipup yapped quietly, though it did make White smile a little. Not because the kid had her Lillipup, but because Lillipup seemed pretty happy to be pampered once in awhile, since she didn't have time to really spoil her too much.

"Humph." White crossed her arms and glared at Bianca, who just shrugged.

"You've gotta stop acting like this around kids, White!" she said, rolling her eyes. "You were a kid once, too."

"Yeah, but I wasn't a pathetic little demon child like every other child on this earth…" growled White.

"I don't even know why you hate them so much. They're really cute." Bianca looked at White and raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to answer the question with a decent answer.

"I just… don't," replied White. "They're cute and all, but when I was a kid they were horrible to me. Before I moved to Unova when I was five and met you and Cheren, anyway. The ones at my day-care when I was four were horrible, so I don't like them. They're all mean underneath."

Bianca just sighed. Admittedly, her friend did have a good point, but she would have thought she'd have gotten over it by now. It had been over ten years, after all. She then turned around to the little girl, who now had a friend beside her who was holding a Pansage.

"What's your name, then?" she asked, kneeling down so she was the children's height.

"I'm Naomi," said the girl holding White's Lillipup. "This is my friend Mirrhi." The girl holding the Pansage looked up and waved.

"Well, I'm Bianca, and this is…" Bianca grabbed White's arm and pulled her around.

"White…" she grumbled. The two girls looked at each other, before bursting out laughing.

"T-that's a f-funny name!" giggled Mirrhi. Pansage fell out of her arms and also began laughing, though he didn't seem to know what exactly he was laughing at. White stomped on the ground, before holding out a hand to prove her point to Bianca. They all hated her underneath, therefore she hated them.

"Don't push it!" she snapped. The two preschoolers stopped laughing instantly. Lillipup had now run back to her side after Naomi had let go of her, and White turned around and began walking away. "I'm leaving," she announced, storming out of the daycare and trying to make as dramatic of a scene as possible to prove her point even further. As she walked, she absentmindedly grumbled to herself. "I'm never having kids…"

After about five or so minutes of walking, she was stopped by Cheren, who came running up behind her.

"White, hold up!" he called, placing a hand on her shoulder as soon as he reached her. "We both have the Trio Badge, so let's see who's stronger."

"Fine by me," said White, already pretty worked up from remembering the kids she used to be forced to spend her time with before meeting her current friends. "Oshawott, you up for it?"

No, she wasn't up for it. She just wanted to go for that promised swim in the river. The sparkly blue water. The moist breeze in her face. She didn't want to have to battle in order to get to it. However, she figured that she would have to and went along with the battle anyway.

"Oshawott!" she cried, jumping out in front of White, though the eagerness in her cry and action was false.

About ten minutes or so into the battle, the two were interrupted by two Team Plasma grunts running in between the field. They looked in a massive hurry, and they ran so fast that the two Trainers didn't have time to stop the battle before they got run into.

"Lillipup, use…"

"Step aside, peasants!" one of them yelled, batting Cheren's Purrloin aside and sprinting down the path.

"Let's call it off for now," said White. Cheren nodded and walked up to her, staring at the two grunts before they got out of sight down the hill ahead of them.

"What was that about?" he wondered aloud, staring down the path. He then turned around when he heard footsteps behind him. "Bianca, why are you running?" Bianca came running up to the two, closely followed by Naomi and Mirrhi, who looked like they were tying their hardest to keep up with her.

"Hey, where are those two headed?" she panted. White looked down to see that Mirrhi had tears in her eyes and Naomi was patting her on the back reassuringly, muttering something to her that sounded like comforting words. Children being nice? White stared at them and actually felt _sorry _for them, but she didn't show it. She was probably just mistaking it for hate. Yeah, hate, that was what she was really feeling.

"That way," said White, pointing down the path where Team Plasma had disappeared to. "But why are you running?"

"Oh, seriously, they run so fast…" muttered Bianca.

"Bianca, my Pansage…" sniffled Mirrhi. Bianca turned to her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, don't worry, we'll get it back!"

"Bianca!" said Cheren, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her a little. "_Why are you running?_"

"Well, Team Plasma stole this little girl's Pokémon!" said Bianca.

"You should have spoken up sooner," sighed Cheren. "Alright, White, we're going to get the stolen Pokémon back. Bianca, you stay here with those two."

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa_!" said White, grasping Cheren's arm before he could go any further. "I never agreed to help out with this!"

"White, it's Team Plasma! We can't just let them get away with this!" said Cheren impatiently, pulling his arm away from her grip.

"Fine," grumbled White. "Let's go."

The two ran down the path as fast as they could, though White did so a little more reluctantly. They looked around everywhere for Team Plasma, but couldn't seem to find them anywhere, or even get the slightest glance as to where they could be. Nothing moved unless it was caused by the wind, and they couldn't see any footprints that may lead them towards the grunts. After searching for awhile, White figured they wouldn't be able to find them without a better lead. As if on cue White got swooped on by a rather aggressive Pidove, which nearly knocked her hat off of her head. It was odd, as Pidove weren't usually aggressive. Something must have aggravated it.

"Hey, watch it!" she snapped, shaking a fist of it and gripping her hat with her free hand, holding it on. "Hang on, Pidove can fly!" Cheren turned to her and sweatdropped.

"Yeah, White! They _can _fly. You know; the main aspect of bird Pokémon is that they can usually fly. With some exceptions."

"No, I mean this little pigeon thingy could be our key to finding Team Plasma." White pulled out Lillipup's Pokéball. Cheren sighed at her choice of words. "Lillipup, use Tackle!" she commanded, throwing the Pokéball. Lillipup did as she was told and rammed into the Pidove. "Now use Bite on its wing!"

After not even a minute, Pidove was caught, and White sent it out to help find Team Plasma from the air while she and Cheren looked from the ground.

"Where the heck are we meant to look?" said White, pulling apart the leaves on a bush. "We've already looked _everywhere_!"

"Uh, I think we'd know if they were in the bushes, White…" mumbled Cheren. "But there is a cave up ahead. I think we ought to look in there. If they're not there then we might just have to wait for a lead from Pidove."

"Let's go, then!" said White eagerly, running up the path. She wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. "Dammit, why'd I have to get dragged into this…?" Even then, she still wanted to get the little girl's Pokémon back. She felt _slightly, _ever so _slightly _sorry for her.

She stopped on the outside of the cave and waited for Cheren. As soon as she stopped, she saw Pidove sitting at the entrance, cooing softly, as if trying to catch her attention. This pretty much proved that Team Plasma was, in fact, inside the cave. Or something was, anyway. She pulled out his Pokéball and returned him to it just as Cheren ran up to her.

"They're in here," she whispered, pointing into the entrance. Sure enough, they could hear echoed whispers coming from the inside of it. The two nodded and walked inside, being cautious incase they got jumped on from out of the shadows.

"Dammit, they found us!" White crossed her arms as she saw the two grunts hiding behind a rock which was way too small to actually hide them from plain sight, especially since their uniforms stood out like a Wailord in a group of Luvdisc compared to the cave's light and colour. She resisted the urge to laugh as they jumped out in front of her and Cheren.

"That child cannot use a Pokémon to its full potential," said the first grunt. "That makes the Pokémon sad."

"By full potential, do you mean battling potential?" said Cheren, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you were against battling. In your case, not being able to battle with a Pokémon should be a good thing…"

"I, well, _shut up and let me finish!"_ the grunt snapped back. "That's the same thing for all your Pokémon, so hand them over!"

"Did you even listen to what I just said?" muttered Cheren, but he shook his head and looked at White, glaring at her determinedly.

Oshawott, who was sitting on White's shoulder, attempted to hide in her ponytail for fear of being stolen. White ignored this and turned to Cheren.

"Let's take 'em," White said. Cheren nodded and sent in his Snivy. White tried to send out Oshawott, but she was preoccupied hiding in White's hair to avoid being taken, so she sent out Lillipup instead. The grunts sent out two Patrat.

"Shouldn't be too hard," said Cheren. "Alright, Snivy, start with Vine Whip on the one on the left!"

"Lillipup, use Bite on the other one!"

Before the Patrat could do anything, they'd been attacked by White and Cheren's Pokémon. The two grunts cursed and stomped their feet in frustration.

"Blasted Pokémon! Patrat, go for the Lillipup with Tackle!"

"Do the same, Patrat."

Before Lillipup could do anything, she was being lunged at by two Patrat and unable to dodge. She seemed to panic a little, as she was being pushed up against a wall and cornered with nowhere to even try to dodge.

"Pick up Lillipup with your vines, Snivy!" commanded Cheren. Lillipup was lifted neatly off the ground and the two Patrat crashed headfirst into each other, knocking each other out. The two grunts groaned and returned their Pokémon to their Pokéballs.

"Why can't we have gotten better Pokémon?" wailed one of the grunts, falling to the ground and punching it. "Ouch, why did I do that? It hurt! Fine, take the stupid Pansage." He tossed the Pokéball carelessly into the air, not really going anywhere near either of the Trainers. White dived to catch Pansage's Pokéball, struggling to make it to it before it fell to the ground. "Just remember that people like you are making Pokémon suffer! Someday, you should open your eyes to your own complicity."

"Maybe one day you guys will open your eyes to your stupidity," muttered White. The two grunts snorted at her remark and shoved past them, sprinting out of the cave.

"Alright, let's get this to the girl," said Cheren.

"Can't you go? I don't want to see those stupid…" White stopped when she saw Cheren's face. "Humph, fine…" she grumbled, following after him.

"I'll never understand Team Plasma." Cheren shook his head as he muttered to himself. "Trainers bring out their Pokémon's strength. Pokémon believe in their Trainers and respond to that… I don't understand how that makes Pokémon suffer…"

"As I said, they're stupid," said White simply. Oshawott nodded her head in agreement. "Besides, they knock Pokémon out in order to steal them. If that doesn't make Pokémon suffer, I don't know what does. Not only do they get hurt physically, but also mentally. They lose a relationship along with getting a different lifestyle. It's really gross."

Cheren nodded and sighed as the two entered the day care again. White groaned as Mirrhi and Naomi ran up to her, closely followed by Bianca. White held up the Pokéball for them to see so they knew they got it back.

"Did you get the Pokémon back?" asked Bianca, even though White had made it pretty obvious that they had, and she threw Mirrhi her Pokémon's Pokéball. The little girl's eyes lit up instantly.

"Pansage!" she squealed. "Thank you!" She then ran up and hugged White happily, which was rather awkward as she only actually reached her waist. White growled under her breath, but she saw Bianca's glare and sighed.

"You're welcome…" she grumbled, patting Mirrhi's head awkwardly, the tips of her fingers being the only part of her hand to actually touch her. The girl smiled up at her and White laughed a little.

"Naw, White's warming up to kids!" sang Bianca happily. White shot her an "I'll deal with you later" glance, which Bianca didn't really seem to notice due to focusing more than the fact that White was hugging a child under the age of six and not the death glare she was giving her while hugging a child under the age of six.

"Alright, well, I'm heading off. Be seeing you guys," said Cheren, waving at them before leaving the day care.

"Yep, I'd better be off too," White said hastily, turning around and running at full speed out of the day care before anyone could stop her. "I'm never going back there again. That place is hell on earth," she panted.

She spent the rest of the day walking and trying to figure out her way up the route while trying to drag Oshawott along, who wasn't impressed at the fact that she still wasn't allowed to swim.

_Last time I take a promise from you,_ thought the Pokémon as she was being clutched in White's arms. She wasn't trying to struggle anymore, partly because White had a firm grip on her and partly because the more she struggled the longer it would take for White to actually reach the river.

"At least I'm away from the day care…" White mumbled. "I swear to Arceus, if Bianca ever brings me back there I'll…"

"White!"

She groaned as Bianca's voice rang behind her. White pretended not to hear and kept walking, but Bianca wasn't going to fall for it.

"Lighten up, White!" she begged, grabbing her friends arm. White turned around slowly.

"If I had a Pokédollar…"

"Oh, shush! Let's go to Nacrene City together, okay? Cheren's already there. He called me a few minutes ago." Bianca grinned, and White admitted to herself it would be good to have the company.

"Alright," sighed White. "Whatever, but you have to battle me to get Oshawott's spirits up, well, try to anyway…" Bianca beamed at her.

"You're on! Hey, you caught a Pidove too, didn't you? Cheren told me what happened when he called me on the Xtranciever to ask where I was."

"Yeah, suppose I'd better train that, too…" White pulled out Pidove's Pokéball. "Oshawott, you can swim later, okay?"

Later? Later wasn't good enough! Oshawott wanted to swim _now_, today at least. She figured that wasn't going to happen later, if at all. She'd have to deal with her Trainer _later_, but no, she wouldn't have time to do that, because she would be swimming _later_.

-.-.-

That night, Oshawott sat on the floor of the tent, silently plotting her escape.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. -.**

**Misa: I finished rewriting the first six chapters! *Cheers and claps from around the room***

**Yeah, I wish I got an applause for that… anyway, I spent two days on this whole rewriting project thing. **_**Two whole days. **_**I barely took a break. Yeah, I spent a weekend on this when I could have gone over to a friends house and socialized or something. But no… Anyway, this chapter isn't that brilliant still, but it's a filler chapter, so there's not much to really put in there. Next chapter, which won't be rewritten, is much more eventful.**

**Anywho, now I can get back to working on chapter nineteen of this, and I hope that now you've read six chapters of this then you'll take the time to read the rest! Anywho, make sure to review!**


	7. The Eye of the Dragon

**Disclaimer:**

**Misa: Hey, guys. Chapter seven is here, and honestly I don't have a cheesy pun or joke to say, so let's just get to it.**

**Disclaimer: You know what, screw the Disclaimer, I **_**do **_**own Pokémon!**

… **0.o**

**A copy of the games at least, not the actual franchise…**

***Sob***

…...

N sighed and looked around Nacrene City. It was midnight and hard to see, but the silver light of the moon and the few remaining lights in buildings made it so he could at least walk without bumping into something. The thing that stood out most in the city was the museum. The lights in the windows still shone, showing it was still open. He stepped up to it and opened the doors, which creaked loudly, startling a man inside. He wore glasses and a white lab coat.

"Oh! Welcome, sir!" he said hastily, standing up out of his seat. "Welcome to the Nacrene Museum. What brings you out this late?"

"I'm travelling," said N, looking around absentmindedly. "I came to see the museum here before going on with my travels."

"Well, take all the time you need." The man bowed before sitting down behind the desk once again and burying his face in a book. N nodded and began looking around.

Nothing much struck him in the museum; there were bones of Pokémon, a few stones, a Yamask mask, and a few other things that he wasn't really sure of. He looked around, not really interested in much until his eyes fixed on a small, plain white stone. There were parts which looked like they'd had pieces chipped out of it, only when he ran a finger along them they were smooth, as if they'd been polished countless times. He turned to the man behind the counter.

"May I ask you what this is, exactly?" he asked, turning back to the stone and gesturing to it.

"Oh, that?" The man laughed and waved a hand in the air dismissively. "That's just a stone we found in the desert. Nothing special, unless you count the fact that it's rather pretty to look at…"

N nodded and gazed at the stone a little more, his heart racing. He then shook his head quickly and sighed. It was pretty to look at. That was why he was so interested. Nothing more than that. He turned around to call Zorua to leave and noticed that his Pokémon was sniffing at a large skeleton of a Pokémon. It appeared to be a large dragon, though nothing he'd seen before. It had a large body with small wings that didn't look nearly large enough to carry it. Perhaps they'd been larger when it had flesh.

"Zorua, what Pokémon is that?" he said. Zorua turned to him and shook his head.

"_Not sure. I haven't seen one in the wild before…"_

N gazed at it for a few more seconds. "I'll tell Ghetsis about it when we see him, but for now, we'll leave…" N couldn't help but take one more quick glance at the white stone, but forced his eyes away from it before leaving the museum.

As the door creaked shut, a woman walked out of a room at the back of the museum.

"Who was that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. She had dark skin and dark blue curly hair pulled back with an orange and white headband. She wore a white blouse with a pink apron that fell to her ankles.

"Oh, just a teenage boy…" muttered the man, not looking away from the book he was reading. The woman shook her head, apparently not entirely convinced.

"At this time of night?" she mumbled to herself. "Oh, well…" She went back into the back room, though she shot a few glances at the door before doing so.

...

"Ugh, I don't _believe _this!" groaned White, covering her head with her hands in the attempt to shield some of her face from the pouring rain. "Of course it rains when we're in the middle of nowhere."

"This always happens to me," sighed Bianca, though she didn't seem as annoyed as White about the sudden downpour. "I'm used to it."

White scowled and looked at Oshawott, who was dancing merrily in the rain. "This is the happiest I've seen her in ages…"

"Osha!" cried Oshawott, diving into a puddle and rolling around. She emerged brown and covered with mud, though the rain washed it off in an instant.

"Well, we're not too far from Nacrene city," panted Bianca, who was trying to keep up with White while dodging puddles so she wouldn't slip. "We should be there in about half an hour."

"You've got to be kidding me…" grumbled White.

A half hour later, they reached Nacrene City, soaking wet and covered in mud. The two ran into the Pokémon Center, Oshawott following merrily behind them.

"Oh, goodness!" gasped Nurse Joy. "You poor things. Hurry into the bathroom and get washed up. I'll get you some rooms ready so you can get into some dry clothes. Audino!"

An Audino skipped up to them as the nurse snatched Oshawott away from White.

"Take this Oshawott and get it washed up straight away!" she ordered. Audino nodded and skipped away carrying Oshawott, who was desperately trying to escape the Pokémon's grasp, apparently not happy about being cleaned up.

"Thank you," sighed White. She and Bianca went into the bathroom and took a shower. White was exhausted from the running, and her legs ached as she walked out of the bathroom, wringing out her sodden hair.

She followed another Audino into her room where she found Bianca and Oshawott sitting on beds. Bianca waved happily and jumped up.

"Nurse Joy must be busy today," she said. "With the rain and all, there must be a ton of Trainers coming for shelter."

"Yeah." White threw herself onto the plush, white sheets of her bed and shut her eyes. It was only midday, but she was exhausted. She immediately fell into a rather restless sleep.

...

_Two people stood, one boy and one girl, at the top of a tower made of stone. A large, black and white dragon stood behind them, only it didn't seem happy. The two people were fighting, and the dragon seemed to be coming between them, trying to stop them, but with no luck. Eventually, the people stopped fighting as the dragon's eyes began to glow. One glowed red, the other glowed blue. The two people jumped back as the dragon split into two, the black and white of it separating._

_The two people looked up at the two new dragons, one black and one white. One with red eyes and one with blue eyes. They each reached a hand out and touched a dragon, perfectly in sync with each other as they did so. The white dragon bowed before the girl, where as the black dragon bowed in front of the boy. The two people flew out of a hole in the wall along with their dragons, before flying off in different directions, each aspiring for their own new world._

_Everything went white, and suddenly the two people were sitting on their dragons, which were clashing headfirst into each other in a raging battle. Swirling fire and sparking electricity surrounded them, though it didn't seem to faze any of them. The battle continued until the smoke around them turned cold and frosty and they were suddenly surrounded by ice. The dragons' wings were frozen, and they fell to the ground with a _crash_. The two people stood up again and looked around to see what had caused it. A white dragon with grey markings on it snorted, frosty breath coming out of its nostrils as it did so._

_Everything around them was frozen. The grey dragon was the cause. Suddenly, the black and the white dragons shrunk, getting smaller and smaller until they were nothing but stones. The two humans watched as the stones disappeared, along with the grey dragon…_

_..._

White woke up and sat up suddenly, her breathing heavy. She looked around frantically, as if expecting to see two dragons sitting in her room, or the stones at least.

"Oh, you're awake!" White jumped at Bianca's voice. "Are you okay?" The blonde raised an eyebrow curiously and turned her head to the side.

"It's nothing…" muttered White. Bianca seemed to light up suddenly.

"You… you didn't have another dream, did you?" she stammered, staring at White as if she were a freak.

"Yeah…" sighed White. "But it's nothing… What time is it?"

"6:30," said Bianca. She looked out the window and sighed. "Still pouring with rain. It hasn't stopped for even a second."

White looked down to see Oshawott tugging on her sock. She laughed and picked up her Pokémon.

"Sorry, buddy. You're probably hungry," she laughed. Oshawott nodded eagerly.

"Cheren and I were about to go for dinner," said Bianca. "You should come, too."

"Cheren?" White hadn't seen Cheren since the previous day, and she probably still wouldn't be seeing him if they hadn't had to sprint to Nacrene City.

"Yeah, I met him in the lobby while you were asleep. He said he got his badge today…"

"_Today_?" White turned her head to Bianca quickly. "Dammit, I have to get my badge quickly!"

"Can't do it today. The Gym closed at 5:00. Apparently they're getting ready for a special exhibit or something for the day after tomorrow." Bianca grabbed her bag and picked up her Tepig. "Let's get going."

White nodded absentmindedly and stood up, following Bianca out of the room. They met Cheren in the lobby. He seemed rather smug, and instantly proceeded to show White his shiny new gym badge.

"You haven't gotten ahead of me this time, White," he laughed, putting it back in his badge case. "And you never will, either."

"Let's just eat," scowled White, rolling her eyes. The lobby was packed with people of all sorts, from people who looked like they'd been travelling for miles to people who looked like they'd just come from a mansion. Nurse Joy was running around frantically, apparently trying to get as many things done as she could at once with her own two hands. Audino was doing the same, though she seemed much happier doing so.

After dinner, White went to bed and fell asleep almost instantly, although this time she didn't have any more dreams.

...

"White!" The voice echoed throughout White's ears, annoying her a little. "White!" She swatted the air absentmindedly, and Bianca dodged out of the way, only just avoiding getting hit in the nose. "_White!_ Wake up, sleepy-head!"

White groaned as her eyes flickered open. She looked around groggily to see Bianca's face beaming down at her.

"Finally!" laughed the blonde, twirling around a little. "It's already 8:00. Cheren wants to go and look at the museum with us!"

"Alright…" mumbled White, rubbing her eyes. She stood up and went into the bathroom to get dressed. She pulled her hair into a high ponytail and fixed her cap on her head before leaving the Pokémon Center with Bianca to meet Cheren at the museum.

"Took you long enough," said Cheren, who was standing outside the museum doors.

"Sorry, White slept in," laughed Bianca, skipping up to him happily. White shot her a glare, but she just chuckled.

"What's wrong with you," asked Cheren, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing's wrong!" snapped White. "Let's just go inside." She then kicked the museum door open and stomped inside.

"You woke her up, didn't you…" muttered Cheren to Bianca.

"W-what? No…" lied Bianca, before forcing a smiled and stumbling into the museum after White. Cheren just laughed and shook his head.

"Okay, so what should we look at first?" said Cheren. Bianca was about to speak when she was interrupted by White.

"That…" she muttered, stepping toward the white stone at the back of the room. Cheren raised an eyebrow.

"It's…" He examined the stone a little closer. "A rock…"

"But it's really…" White paused for a moment. "Pretty…"

"Another young man came in earlier…" White jumped and turned around suddenly. A man in a lab coat was standing behind her. "He had interest in the exact same stone as you… I don't see what's so interesting about it. It's just a stone we found in the desert some time ago, nothing special about it…"

"Then why'd you put in a museum?" questioned Bianca.

"W-well it's…" The man sweatdropped. "It's rather pretty to look at, that's all…" He then walked away shaking his head and muttering to himself.

"White, can we go look at something else?" said Cheren, grabbing her arm.

"You can…" White shook her arm from his grasp, entirely transfixed on the stone. She reached out a hand and touched the small dent in it, and drew her hand back suddenly when she felt the smoothness of it. She was expecting it to be rough, but it felt like polished glass. She shook her head and placed her whole hand on the stone, but this time, she felt like someone was interfering with her brain. She saw the blue eyes of the white dragon which she'd seen in her dream. It growled quietly.

"_White_…" it said. The voice echoed in her head over and over. Her head began throbbing as she regained vision of the museum. She found herself on the ground with the stone lying next to her.

"Oh, my!" came a voice. She looked around, her vision blurry. Everything seemed to be spinning, and she took Bianca's hand and pulled herself up.

"Are you okay?" asked Bianca. White nodded quickly, but she felt like falling over again. She placed a hand on the table and steadied herself. Bianca sighed in relief.

"What happened here?" White looked up to see a woman with dark skin and blue, curly hair.

"White passed out for a few seconds, by the looks of it…" said Cheren, adjusting his glasses and staring at White.

"When I touched the stone…" White muttered. She picked up the stone again with a trembling hand. Bianca squeezed her hand tightly, as if she were anticipating her fainting again. The stone seemed to be pulsing in her hand, but she didn't get another vision. She placed it back on the table and stared at it for a few moments, before shaking her head and turning around. The woman was rather tall, and White looked up to see her worried face staring down at her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, placing a hand on White's shoulder.

"Yeah, I think I'm fine…" White said.

"You should go see a doctor or something, just to be sure…" She cut Bianca off by shaking her head and letting go of her hand.

"No, I'm fine," White insisted. "I… I think I just need some air…" Before she could be stopped once more, she quickly made her way out of the museum. She couldn't get the image of the dragon out of her head. Or rather, the eye of the dragon. She knew it was the one from her dream, but she couldn't get a grip around what the dream had been about. She'd forgotten almost all of it, other than the visions of the black and white dragons. And why had she gotten that vision when she saw the stones?

As she was deep in thought and wasn't exactly looking where she was going, White felt herself bump into someone, sending her falling to the ground.

"Ouch…" she cried, rubbing her head. Her vision had gone blurry again, but not as bad as it was when she had touched the stone. She looked around, not able to focus on the tall figure in front of her. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she said, standing up and bowing slightly. The person in front of her chuckled, and White groaned when she saw who it was. "Ugh, not you again…"

"Hello to you, too…" said N, staring down at her. White rolled her eyes and scowled.

"I'm pretty sure you're stalking me…" she mumbled. N just shrugged innocently.

"Not stalking, but I am keeping an eye on you…"

"So, you're following me?"

"In some ways, yes…"

"So, you're _stalking _me…" White said.

"In a way, yes…" He shook his head and smiled slightly. "I saw you looking at that stone in the museum. I also saw you fall to the ground and drop it…"

"Creep…" White mumbled. N didn't take notice of this and just kept talking.

"I found that stone interesting, too…" he muttered. "The smoothness of the stone was fascinating. Elegant, in a way…"

For once, White had to agree with him. She had found the stone interesting, even when no one else did.

"Yeah, I'll agree with you on that one…" she said. "It was sort of… pretty…"

"Yes, like a dragon's eye, almost…" said N. White's heart leapt.

"W-what did you say?" she choked, jumping back slightly. This guy had to know more than White did about this matter. She remembered the dream she'd had on the day she left her journey. N getting crowned by Ghetsis. Maybe she should ask him something…

She shook her head quickly, trying to get the thought out of her head. N was crazy, crazier than anyone she'd ever met. But still, he definitely had something to do with her dreams. White was sure it wasn't just a coincidence that he'd been in her dream, it couldn't have been…

"Hello?" N's voice snapped White back to reality. She blinked a few times before looking up at him.

"What?" she snapped. "You can go, now!"

"No…" muttered N. White raised an eyebrow at him. He seemed to be muttering to himself. "I… I want to see things no one else can see… The ideals of Pokémon inside Pokéballs…"

White found herself listening to his muttering. He wanted to see Pokémon inside Pokéballs? This was a little odd, though she'd never really thought of it that way… What _did _Pokémon look like inside Pokéballs?

"The truths of how Trainers should be, and a future where Pokémon have become perfect beings…" N turned to White suddenly, making her jump back. You! Do you feel the same?"

White thought about the question for a moment. "Well, I guess… it would be interesting to see Pokémon inside Pokéballs. What it's like for them… but other than that, I don't really have a clue what you're talking about…"

N shook his head. "Is that so? I think my friends and I should test you to see if you really do see this future ahead of you… Let us battle."

"Right here?" White asked. N nodded. "In the middle of town?"

"We battled back in Accumula town…" he shrugged.

"Yeah, and everyone got drenched from my Oshawott…" scowled White. "Fine, I'll battle, but if we get thrown out of town, I'm blaming you…" She pulled out Lillipup's Pokéball. "Go, Lillipup!" She threw the ball in the air, revealing the excited puppy.

"Go, Pidove!" yelled N, throwing his Pokéball gracefully into the air. A Pidove flew out of it and began flying in circles.

"Before we start, do you ever use your Zorua in battle?" asked White, looking down at the small black fox. N looked at it, then shook his head.

"Zorua is my friend. He has been my friend since we were both young. He does not battle," explained N. Zorua looked up at him and wagged his tail, grinning slightly. White laughed.

"Well, I guess that's a decent reason… Okay, let's start! Lillipup, use Take Down!"

While training with Bianca, Lillipup had managed to learn Take Down, while Oshawott had learned Razor Shell and Pidove had learned Air Cutter.

"Dodge it, Pidove, then use Quick Attack!" Pidove flew into the air and dodged it, before charging at Lillipup in a full-power Quick Attack. Lillipup fell to the ground, but got back up instantly as if she hadn't even been touched.

"Good, Lillipup! Now, use Bite!" Once again, Pidove flew into the sky to dodge, and White decided it would be a good idea to withdraw Lillipup. She sent out Pidove to have a bit more of a chance, and after a few Air Cutters, N's Pidove was down.

N withdrew Pidove and talked to it a little inside the Pokéball, before sending out a Timburr.

"You good to stay in, Pidove?" asked White. Pidove cooed softly and nodded. "Aright, then, use Gust!"

"Use Bide, Timburr," commanded N. Timburr's skin glowed red, and there seemed to be steam coming off of it.

"Okay, we need to take it down quick, then…" White muttered. "Okay, use Air Cutter, Pidove!" Pidove sent razor sharp gusts of wind at Timburr, who was pushed back a little, but stayed standing. N snapped his fingers patiently.

"Unleash, Timburr," he said calmly. Timburr glowed white and a white beam was sent at Pidove, knocking it out in an instant.

"Oh, Pidove!" gasped White. She returned her Pokémon to her Pokéball and sent out Oshawott. "Oshawott, Water Gun!"

"Bide, Timburr…" Just as the attack hit Timburr, its skin began glowing red again, but White knew what to do.

"It's concentrating hard, so…" She thought for a moment. "Use Razor Shell, Oshawott, but aim for its head!" Oshawott slashed across Timburr's head with her razor sharp shell, knocking it off its feet.

N returned it to its Pokéball. "Go, Tympole!" A small, blue, tadpole-like Pokémon appeared and started flopping around on the ground. White snickered a little before returning Pidove.

"Go, Lillipup!" Lillipup growled at the tadpole Pokémon, but it didn't seem fazed.

"Bubblebeam, Tympole!" commanded N. Tympole sent a powerful stream of multicoloured bubbles at Lillipup. It hit spot on and sent the puppy flying back. It now had small scratches on its body and was breathing heavily.

"Oh, no," said White, thinking hard. Before she could come up with anything, Tympole sent another stream of bubbles at her Pokémon. White shook her head and yelled the first thing that came into her mind. "Lillipup, charge right at it with Take Down!" Lillipup nodded and ran right at the Tympole, and, to White's surprise, seemed to just shrug off the Bubblebeam to hit Tympole spot-on.

"Alright, that's enough, I think…" said N calmly, returning his Tympole. White ran over and picked up Lillipup and hugged her.

"Great job," she laughed. Lillipup licked her face affectionately.

"Right now, my friends aren't strong enough to save all Pokémon…" said N. "Maybe I can't solve the equation that changed the world… So, I need power. Power strong enough to make anyone believe me…" N began to walk away. "Now I know the power I need, Zekrom!"

"Zekrom?" questioned White, turning her head to the side and crossing her arms.

"The legendary black dragon that, along with a hero, created the Unova region. It's my turn to be that hero, and you and I shall be friends…" N then began to leave, but White stopped him by calling out to him.

"Wait!" N turned around and gave her a questioning look. "What happened to your Purrloin?"

N smirked slightly and turned back around. "I released it," he said simply, before walking away. "It didn't deserve to be confined."

White had too many questions to ask herself. "Released it…?" she muttered. "Why would he…" The thought was overtaken by another. Zekrom, the legendary black dragon. "Oh!" cried White. In her dream, one of the dragons had been black. Could it have been Zekrom? If so, then it was definitely not a coincidence that N was in her first dream. He had too much to do with it, and that many things couldn't be all coincidences.

"White?" White turned around to see the woman she'd seen before in the museum.

"Hello," she said uncertainly. The woman smiled slightly.

"I heard from your friends that you wish to have a gym battle?" she said. White nodded eagerly. "Well, I'll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon. We have a special exhibit on at the museum, but I can battle you afterwards…" She turned around. "Oh, and I forgot to mention. I'm Lenora. I'm the Gym Leader here. I use Normal-type Pokémon, but don't take me lightly." She chuckled. "I'll be waiting."

White stared at her as she went back into the museum, and as she went in, Bianca and Cheren came out.

"Hey, White!" called Bianca, waving eagerly. "I expected you to be back at the Pokémon Center by now, but how about we go back together?"

White nodded and followed them back to the Pokémon Center, her thoughts jumping back and forth between today's events and tomorrow's Gym Battle.

….

**Misa: *Sigh* Done! Haha, I had so many ideas for this chapter… I ended up staying up until one in the morning on a school night to finish it and nearly fell asleep during maths… anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter! Oh, and review, if you please.**

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	8. Pokemon Conversations

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**Misa: Hey guys! Welcome back to Pokémon Black and White. I meant to upload this last weekend, but I've been training for a horse riding competition, which is tomorrow… so basically, I haven't had the time.**

**White: In other words, she doesn't give a damn about us characters and has much better things to do than let us get along with our lives.**

**Misa: I'm sorry! *Shame* Just… do the disclaimer…**

**White: *Smirks* Misa doesn't own Pokémon.**

**Misa: Just make me more depressed by reminding me, why don't you…**

**White: It's what I live for. Onto the chapter! *Grins***

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"White, are you ready to go?" called Bianca, shoving a few things into her bag. "The special exhibit at the Museum starts soon!"

"I'm coming, slow down. We won't be late," grumbled White. "Besides, it's not like the exhibit's going anywhere, it's probably just some bones or something, and I'm pretty sure bones can't walk, unless we're unknowingly in some horror film." White flung her bag over her shoulder and pulled on her cap, thinking about how cool it would be if they were _really _in a horror film. "Ready, Oshawott?" Her Pokémon cried out happily and jumped onto her shoulder. "Don't break anything. The things where we're going are priceless, okay?"

"Osha, Oshawott." Oshawott waved a paw dismissively. White rolled her eyes and turned to Bianca.

"That goes for you, too," she scowled. Bianca waved her hand dismissively, much in the same way Oshawott did.

"No need to worry, White!"

"Are you sure?" White wasn't too convinced. "Should I handcuff you or something? No, actually, that would just make you more likely to break something. I'll just get Lenora to keep a close eye on you."

Bianca sweatdropped as the two rushed out of the Pokémon Center and met Cheren at the entrance to the Museum.

"Has the exhibit started yet?" panted Bianca. Cheren shook his head.

"Nah, I told you, it doesn't come open until nine."

"So you made me rush for nothing." Bianca jumped back seeing White's glare. "I could have had another fifteen minutes."

"Are you three okay out there?" White jumped back, a little startled. Lenora had appeared out of nowhere. Well, actually, she'd stuck her head out of the Museum's door, but it was startling all the same. "Why don't you come inside?"

"Sounds good," said White. Cheren and Bianca nodded and followed her in. "So what's happening today that's so special?"

"Well, for one thing we got a few more Pokémon fossils and bones from other regions, like Kanto and Johto," explained Lenora. "We also have some peculiar items that are said to awaken legendary Pokémon."

"We can help set up, if you want," offered White. Lenora smiled.

"Alright, come into the back room with me."

The three followed Lenora into a room at the back of the Museum. In the room, the walls were lined with bookshelves wherever you looked. There were a few people inside with there noses buried in books. They didn't seem to notice them walk through. There eyes barely moved as they read, and they looked almost zombified. White walked up to one girl curiously and waved a hand in front of her face. After a few seconds, the girl did move, but only to turn a page. This, however, was enough to startle White enough so that she wouldn't go anywhere near them again.

Lenora led them to a certain ally of books and turned to one bookshelf. There, she carefully pulled a bright red book out, revealing a small, white switch. She flicked the switch and the bookshelf shook, before sliding out of the way to reveal a hidden staircase.

"Impressive," White said. Lenora laughed.

"We keep artefacts down here when they're not on exhibit. People would never guess there's a hidden staircase beneath the bookshelf, and even if they did, they'd have to figure out which bookshelf and which book to look at. It's useful for items that could potentially cause trouble if put into the wrong hands."

They continued down the stairs into a rather dark, small room lit only by candlelight, giving it an eerie feel. At the back of the room were a number of cupboards, a glass cabinet, and a small desk with many different drawers. Lenora opened one of the drawers and pulled out a small case. Opening it revealed a silver feather that glowed white even when there was barely any light to reflect off of it.

"This is known as a Silver Wing. It came all the way from Johto," said Lenora, looking rather proud of herself. "A girl named Lyra used something like this to awaken the legendary Pokémon Lugia many years ago, but since then items like this have been heavily protected in fear that someone may try to awaken a legendary Pokémon and use them for evil purposes. That's how this came to be in our possession." Lenora winked. "Of course, we're not going to tell people it's a real Silver Wing. Someone's bound to try to steal it. Heck we're not even sure if it's real ourselves, let alone capable of awakening Lugia." She handed the case to Cheren. "You can take this out when I say."

Cheren nodded and examined the feather closely.

"Ooh! I wanna see!" said Bianca eagerly, making a grab for the case. Cheren held it up casually. It didn't take much effort keeping it away from her grasp, as he had a good height advantage over her. Eventually, the overexcited blonde gave up.

"Alright, next thing." Lenora stepped over to the glass cabinets and unlocked one of the doors. She then pulled out a rather large, dark brown case. "In here is a Dome fossil, a Helix fossil, and an Old Amber. These could be used to resurrect ancient Pokémon. We got these from the Kanto region. After this exhibit, they're going to be sent to Johto to a lab that specialises in resurrecting these Pokémon."

"Cool," said White, taking the case from her. A few minutes later, the four of them walked back up the steps into the museum and began placing the items in glass cases to later be examined by visitors.

At nine o'clock, people began flooding into the Museum. The man in the lab coat and a few other people, including Lenora, were busy giving people tours around the museum and telling people about the artefacts. Having already learned about most of them, White, Cheren and Bianca looked around by themselves, though Cheren and Bianca spent most of the time trying to keep White's gaze from the white stone they'd seen the previous day.

Oshawott, on the other hand, had managed to escape the clutches of her Trainer and was now looking around the museum by herself. Wondering around, while trying to avoid being trampled multiple times, she looked up to see the green haired boy she'd often battled, N.

She walked over to see what he was looking at, and what it was happened to be the same stone White had taken such an interest in. She shook her head and turned around, only to bump into a little black fox Pokémon.

"_Hi!" _said the Zorua.

"_Hi…" _replied Oshawott, in a "Why are you talking to me" sort of tone. "_Hey, you're that weird green haired dude's Pokémon aren't you?" _Zorua sweatdropped at her choice of words.

"Uh, yeah…" he said. "And his name's N, not "Green Haired Dude"…"

"Right!" said Oshawott. "What're you guys doing here, anyway?"

"_N insisted on coming here to look at that stone again."_ Zorua gestured with her head to the stone N was looking at.

"Really? White's friends have been prying her eyesight from that stone all day…"

"Huh, weird…"

The Pokémon continued to speak, walking aimlessly around the museum and stopping occasionally to look at an exhibit or two. Eventually, White found Oshawott again and told her it was time to leave.

"Osha!" snapped Oshawott. White looked down at her.

"What?" She then noticed N's Zorua on the ground. "Ugh, we'd better get you back to N, I guess…" She picked up Zorua with the hand that wasn't holding Oshawott and found N gazing up at the dragon skeleton near the entrance to the Museum.

"I believe this is yours," she scowled, handing Zorua to him.

"Ah, yes, I was looking for him…" muttered N absentmindedly. White rolled her eyes.

"Sure looks like it," she mumbled sarcastically. "What's this, anyway?" She said, looking up at the Skeleton. N shrugged and shook his head.

"Not sure what Pokémon it is. I asked someone, and all they said was that it was a Dragon-type Pokémon from long ago."

"Uhuh…" said White. She then turned around. "Oh, yeah, and stop following me." She then left the Museum before N could say anything more.

"White, where're you going?" called Bianca. White turned around to see her and Cheren running up to meet her.

"To train," White said bluntly. "Since you guys won't let me take a better look at that stone."

Cheren and Bianca sweatdropped simultaneously.

"That's because it's a rock, White," sighed Cheren. "It's really not that interesting."

"Yeah, but that Silver Wing didn't look that interesting," retorted White. "I would have thought it was just a random feather until Lenora explained it to me."

"Point… but I highly doubt a rock could resurrect a legendary Pokémon," muttered Cheren. "Uh, anyway, how about we help you train?"

"Sounds good." White smiled and the three made their way through the town.

"Psst!"

White turned around quickly at the hissing sound. She then turned to Cheren and Bianca with a confused look on her face.

"Did you say something?" she asked. Her two friends shook their heads. White shrugged dismissively and kept walking.

"Psst!"

"Okay, I know I heard something!" snapped White, turning around and looking in all different directions. At that point, a woman jumped out from behind a building, startling White.

"Take this, don't say a word!" she hissed, dropping a small necklace with a light blue stone on it into White's hands. She then continued to hand Bianca a piece of charcoal and Cheren a small, plain seed. She then lurked back into the shadows, never to be seen again.

"That was, odd…" muttered Bianca, staring at the shiny piece of charcoal that now sat in her hand.

"Well, these could come in handy, I guess…" said Cheren, staring at his seed. He then handed it to his Snivy. "This is a Miracle Seed. It makes Grass-type Pokémon much stronger. Bianca's Charcoal will make her Tepig a lot stronger."

"Cool!" said Bianca, handing the Charcoal to her Tepig.

"I'm assuming I give this to Oshawott, then," said White. Oshawott leapt up and snatched the necklace from her quickly and put it around her neck.

"Osha!" she said proudly, puffing out her chest.

"Yep, that's a Mystic Water," said Cheren knowledgably. "Now let's go train."

A few hours or so later, White and her friends got back into town, her Pokémon considerably tougher.

"The special exhibit should be over by now, let's head to the gym," said Cheren. White nodded eagerly and practically sprinted to the museum.

At the front door, she was welcomed by Lenora.

"Assuming you're here for a battle then, White?" she said. White nodded quickly. "Well, we'll go down into the storage room again."

White was a little confused as to how they'd manage to have a battle in there, but she obeyed and followed Lenora through the library, down the hidden staircase, and back into the storage room. Lenora walked over to what White now noticed as a trap door. She opened it and began climbing down the ladder. White followed, and emerged into a room with a large battlefield.

"Wow…" breathed White. It was a rather amazing sight. The battlefield was made simply of dirt, and large rocks and boulders were scattered everywhere. On the walls were large, glaring lights as the only light source for the room, considering they couldn't put windows into a room that was a good few metres underground. White wondered how long it would have taken to build the battlefield, and she half expected the roof to collapse at any moment.

"Welcome to my battlefield!" said Lenora proudly. She and White took their positions at either end of the field. The man in the lab coat was refereeing, and he held up a flag.

"The battle against Gym Leader Lenora and challenger White from Nuvema town will now begin. It will be a two on two battle. Only the challenger may make substitutions!" he explained. He waved the flag, signalling for the Trainers to send out their Pokémon.

"Go, Herdier!" called Lenora, sending out her Pokémon, which landed neatly on a rock and barked fiercely.

"Oshawott, you're up," White said. Oshawott jumped eagerly off of her shoulder and also landed neatly on a rock.

"Begin!" called the referee.

"Herdier, use Take Down!" commanded Lenora. Herdier charged recklessly at Oshawott, dodging neatly past each rock as it ran.

"Dodge, Oshawott!" Oshawott leaped off of the rock and onto another. Herdier skidded to a halt before it could crash into the rock. "Now, use Razor Shell!"

"Use Bite, Herdier!" Herdier leaped into the air, powered by the rocks, and bit down on Oshawott's shell. "Now throw it!" Herdier flung Oshawott into the air, though the otter Pokémon didn't seem too phased by this, and landed neatly onto another rock, placing her shell back on her chest.

"Great, Oshawott, now, use Water Gun!" This time, as Herdier was just landing on the ground and didn't have much time to react, the jet of water coming from Oshawott's mouth hit the dog Pokémon right in the face, sending it flying back into a rock and smashing it. There were a few dust clouds from the flying debris, but it was quickly blown away from Herdier shaking the water off of its shaggy coat.

"You okay, Herdier?" called Lenora. Herdier barked confidently, glaring fiercely at Oshawott. "Good, use Take Down again!" This attack managed to hit Oshawott straight on.

"Come back with Razor Shell, Oshawott, but get a boost from the rocks!" Oshawott turned around stylishly in midair and sprung herself off of a rock, slashing Herdier with a powerful Razor Shell, knocking it out.

"Ugh," growled Lenora. "Return, Herdier. Good job!" She grinned at White and pulled out her next Pokéball. "Good job taking that one down, but I'm only just getting started." She tossed the Pokéball into the air, revealing a proud-looking Watchog, who scouted around for its opponent.

"You okay to stay in, Oshawott?" White called. Oshawott nodded firmly and glared at the Watchog. "Alright, we'll start off this time, Oshawott, use Tackle!"

"Dive behind the rock, Watchog!" commanded Lenora. Watchog did as it was told, diving behind the nearest rock so that it was entirely hidden. Oshawott landed on the ground so that her back was facing the Watchog and looked around confusedly. Lenora smirked satisfactorily. "Okay, now use Hypnosis!" An eerie beam was sent at Oshawott from Watchog's eyes, and the otter fell asleep instantly.

"Oh!" gasped White. She squinted her eyes at Lenora, who was still looking rather satisfied. White sighed and pulled out her Pokémon's Pokéball. "Return, Oshawott." Oshawott's sleeping form was enveloped in red light and returned to the Pokéball. White looked at her remaining two Pokémon. Lillipup, who probably wouldn't stand a chance against the Watchog, as she was still only tiny. At least Pidove would have the advantage from the air. She nodded firmly and expanded the Pokéball. "Go, Pidove!" she called, throwing it into the air.

"Pid! Pidove!" cooed Pidove, flapping its wings and sending a small gust of wind at Watchog, showing it was ready to battle.

"Okay, Pidove, use Air Cutter!" called White, pointing to Watchog. She felt determination pulsing through her veins. She had to win this battle. She just _had _to. Pidove obeyed, and sent a vicious gust of razor sharp wind at Watchog.

"Detect, Watchog!" A veil of blue light surrounded Watchog, and the wind bounced off of it like it was nothing. White growled and glared at her opponent. "Now, use Hypnosis, Watchog!"

"Blow it off its feet with Gust, Pidove!" Losing its concentration due to the sudden gust of wind, Watchog fell to the ground and its attack was stopped. "Great, now use Quick Attack!"

"Argh!" groaned Lenora, as her Pokémon was hit head on with a powerful Quick Attack. White punched the air.

"Now we're talking! Okay, use Razor Wind again, Pidove!" Once again, the attack hit Watchog, though the Pokémon was still going strong.

"Retaliate, Watchog!" Pidove, as it was so close, was hit hard by Watchog, and knocked out instantly.

"Pidove!" yelled White. She returned the fainted Pokémon to its Pokéball. "Good job, buddy." She smiled at the Pokéball, but then pulled out Oshawott's Pokéball and remembered why she withdrew her in the first place. Oshawott was fast asleep and helpless until she woke up. "Ugh, well, we'll give it a go…" she muttered. She threw the Pokéball into the air and Oshawott's limp, sleeping figure landed on the ground. Lenora smirked satisfactorily.

"Ready to give up yet, White?" she laughed. White snarled and glared at her.

"No chance!" she growled. "Come _on, _Oshawott. Wake up!" Oshawott snored loudly and rolled over onto her back, causing White to sweatdrop.

"Alright, Watchog, use Retaliate again!" commanded Lenora. "Finnish it." Oshawott was thrown across the room and slammed into the wall, but she hadn't fainted yet. "Again!" called Lenora.

"Oshawott, I'm counting on you!" yelled White as Watchog came closer. "Please…" To her surprise, Oshawott's eyes opened and she jumped out of the way just in time. White punched the air. "Yeah, we're back in the game!" White paused when she saw her Pokémon glowing white. "What the…" she muttered. Lenora's mouth dropped open.

"It's…" she muttered. White watched in awe as her Pokémon changed its shape. It grew bigger and taller, until a healthy-looking Dewott stood in front of her, holding the two shells that would usually be attached to its legs.

"Dew!" it said, glaring at its opponent.

"Wow… um, okay…" White muttered, rubbing the back of her neck. "Osha… I mean Dewott, use Razor Shell!"

"Dodge it, Watchog!" Watchog dodged the attack, but Dewott managed to bounce off a wall and hit it in the face with its two shells. The Pokémon fell to the ground, swirls in its eyes. White's mouth dropped open as Lenora withdrew her Pokémon.

"We… won?" she muttered. Dewott smirked satisfactorily. "We won!" The truth got around to her head in a few seconds and she ran up and grabbed her Dewott. "Great job, buddy!" she laughed. Lenora came walking up to her in the middle of the field, holding a Gym Badge. It was a long, thin rectangle with three purple gems lined with gold.

"Well, thanks for that," she smiled, holding out the badge. "That was the most interesting fight I've had in awhile."

"Thanks!" White nodded, taking the badge from the Gym Leader and putting it in her badge case. Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming from the stairs into the basement. She followed Lenora back up the ladder and into the storage room to see her husband breathing heavily with his hands on his knees.

"Dear…" he panted. "T-Team Plasma… They're upstairs… threatening to steal bones…" The man looked like he was about to faint, and he clutched the corner of the desk to stop himself.

"_What_?" said Lenora. She turned to me. "White, I know your Pokémon are weak now, but you have to come too!"

"I'm one step ahead of you," White growled. Dewott nodded quickly and they followed Lenora up the steps to the museum, skipping every second step.

"Enough fooling around!" snapped Lenora, bawling her fists at the ten or so Team Plasma grunts that stood between her and the dragon skeleton.

"So you've come, Gym Leader," smirked a grunt that stood at the front of the lot. White rolled her eyes.

"Well, yeah, she owns this gym, so…" Lenora shot her a glare and she shut up instantly. "Not the time…" White muttered, turning her head away.

"We, Team Plasma, claim this Pokémon skull in the name of Pokémon liberation!" said the same Team Plasma grunt. The one to his left pulled out a small, purple sphere with white swirls on it from his pocket and lifted it up threateningly.

"To show you we're serious, we'll steal it right here and now!" he laughed. "Take this! Our smoke screen!" The grunt threw the sphere into the air and the museum was filled with smoky haze. White coughed and covered her face in attempt to see better, not that it helped. She pulled out her Pidove's Pokéball. It had to have rested enough to use Gust once more.

"Pidove, use Gust!" she called, releasing the Pokémon into the air. Soon, the smoke was blown away. "Thanks, return."

"No!" shrieked Lenora, running up to the skeleton. White jumped back when she saw that the dragon skull was missing from the skeleton. "What the heck's going on?" stammered Lenora, before running out of the museum."

"That Team Plasma…" White muttered angrily. "They won't get away with this!" Then she ran out of the museum.

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**Misa: Finished! Stay tuned for the next chapter and don't forget to review!**

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	9. Into Pinwheel Forest

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**Disclaimer:**

**Misa: I'm back, (Finally) with another chapter of Pokémon Black and White! I had no inspiration the past few weeks. None. Nada. But today I managed to get this done, and during exam week, too! Darn school… but anyway, onto the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

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White ran down the front stairs of the museum, skipping every second step in attempt to keep up with Lenora.

"Hang on!" she called, leaping down the last step and landing neatly on the ground. Lenora turned around and waited for her, though she looked impatient and was tapping her foot hastily.

"Lenora!"

Lenora turned around in search of the voice. White looked in the same direction to see a man with light brown hair and bright green eyes walking up to Lenora. He was dressed rather colourfully, wearing a light green shirt, pink and black striped pants with a pink scarf around his neck.

"Good day," he said casually, bowing slightly. "Find any good fossils lately?"

"Oh, Burgh," said Lenora, her determined and impatient expression softening a little. "This is a surprise visit. Are you suffering from artist's block again?" She then turned to White and gestured toward the man. "White, this is Burgh. He may not look it, but he's Castelia City's Gym Leader."

"Eh? Just looking for a change of pace, that's all," sighed Burgh, looking around at the town a little before turning back to Lenora. "Seems hectic or something around here. Something up?"

"What's up?" Lenora's expression changed back to the determined, impatient one that she'd had on before, and she sounded a little exasperated. Her eyes were squinted and steely, which scared White a little, so she decided to stay back and let the two adults speak. "Someone just walked away with an exhibit! _That's _what's up!"

Burgh jumped back a little, apparently slightly freaked out by Lenora's sudden outburst. He jumped again when a high pitched voice came from behind them and broke the tension. White turned around to see Bianca, who'd left the museum before her Gym battle, walking up to her.

"White!" she chirped, skipping up to them. "What's everyone doing out here?"

"Is there some kind of problem?" Cheren came up behind Bianca, stopping next to her and adjusting his glasses. "We came to see if you were done with your battle yet, and instead we find this…"

"Oh! Cheren and Bianca!" said Lenora. "Good timing. They can help us look for the skull. We'll split up and search. I'll head this way…" She gestured to the other side of the city. "Cheren and Bianca, I want you two to stay behind at the museum and make sure Team Plasma doesn't come back."

"Yes ma'am," nodded Cheren.

"Burgh and White, you two search Pinwheel Forest!" Burgh and White nodded firmly. Lenora grinned eagerly. "Burgh, you lead the way to the forest with White. I'm counting on you, everyone!" She then ran off to search the town.

"Uh-huh. White, was it?" said Burgh. White nodded quickly. "Are you ready to round up some robbers?"

"Can we just go?" sighed White impatiently. Burgh chuckled under his breath and White scowled at his carefree nature. He seemed like one of those overly happy-go-lucky guys that everyone thought was weird and annoying. Basically, the exact opposite of Cheren. White turned around to Cheren and Bianca and quickly explained the situation to them. Cheren nodded at the end and turned to Bianca.

"So, all we need to do is protect the museum, right?" asked Cheren hastily.

"Yep, just make sure Team Plasma doesn't come back," finished White.

"Alright, let's go!" sang Bianca happily. "Come on, Cheren!" She grabbed Cheren's wrist and dragged him into the museum before he could protest.

"We'd better get going too. Lead the way, Burgh!" said White. Burgh turned around and the two ran off toward Pinwheel Forest.

"Okay, so Pinwheel Forest is rather large, so when we get there, I'll go up the road and see if Team Plasma is there. If not, I'll block the exit," explained Burgh. "You, on the other hand, will go through the deeper part of the forest and search in there."

"Sounds good," panted White, who was trying to keep up with the man's long strides.

"Just be careful of the Sewaddle in the forest. They like to play this, err, _game, _where they cover travellers' faces in string and see how long it takes for them to get it off…" said Burgh. He didn't seem disturbed by the fact, however. If anything, he seemed almost intrigued by it. He then chuckled lightly, causing White to raise an eyebrow. "Aren't bug's great?"

"Uh, suit yourself…" muttered White. '_Hardly…' _she thought, restraining herself from saying the rest of the sentence out loud.

They reached the entrance to the forest quickly, and White skidded to a halt behind Burgh, almost crashing into him. The Gym Leader, however, barely seemed to take not of her presence.

"Okay, you know the plan?" said Burgh finally, turning to her. White nodded impatiently. "Good. I'll see you on the other side, then. They can't possibly escape. Just follow the single road in the forest and you can't get lost!" With that, he ran into the forest. White looked at him as he ran, shaking her head. She sweatdropped before beginning her trek through the forest.

"That guy is way too confident…" she muttered. Dewott looked up at her and gave her a look which screamed "_You can't talk_". White scowled at her Pokémon, who smirked and ran ahead to lead the way through the forest. "You know what?" White called out. "I think I preferred your personality when you were an Oshawott!"

"Dew, Dewott!" sighed Dewott, not even bothering to look back at her Trainer. If anything, she walked faster, knowing that if she made White angry, the consequences wouldn't be pretty.

They ran down the path, well, not really a clear path, but it was just noticeable amongst the various leaves that scattered around the place. White's feet crunched as she walked and dodged various larger tree roots as she went. The crunching of the leaves irritated her a little, but she didn't let it stop her.

"Stop right there!"

But the voice of a Team Plasma member did. White looked up to see a rather tall Grunt with an overly confident smirk on her face. At her feet was a small, brown Crocodile-like Pokémon; a Sandile.

"Don't you think that's a weird and impractical Pokémon to have in a forest?" said White. The Grunt snorted loudly.

"Humph, well, I've heard about you. You've been causing trouble for our plans for awhile now, but it stops today! For me and my Sandile will crush you!" The Grunt put a lot of emphasis into her words as she spoke, and even grabbed a leaf off the ground and squished it in her bawled fist when she talked about crushing things.

"Alright, Dewott, go," sighed White dully. Dewott leaped into battle and glared at the Sandile.

"Sand Tomb, Sandile!" commanded the Grunt, pointing at her Pokémon, which kicked the ground and sent sand swirling at Dewott. A few leaves were picked up from the ground in the process, making it even harder to see ahead.

"Dodge, Dewott!" Dewott leaped into the air, spinning and missing the swirling mass of sand and leaves. "Use Water Gun to get rid of the sand, then finish Sandile in one hit with Razor Shell!"

After doing just that, Dewott looked on proudly as the Sandile lay in a twitching heap on the floor, along with its Trainer, who also seemed unable to move by the sudden defeat. White walked up to the Grunt and kicked her, turning her over on the ground.

"Well, no dragon skull…" she muttered, crossing her arms. "Alright, Dewott! On we go!" White skipped off, closely followed by Dewott, both slightly amused by the way the Pokémon and the Grunt handled their loss.

A few minutes later, White was encountered by another Grunt, though she and Lillipup swept him aside without much difficulty, though the Purrloin did manage to steal some of her food in the process.

"How many of these Grunts does Ghetsis have at his disposal?" groaned White, peaking through few bushes to see another Grunt standing on the forest path. This one, however, was holding a Pokéball satisfactorily, smirking and muttering to himself something about stealing a Pokémon. Hang on, _stealing a Pokémon_?

White leaped up out of the bushes, shocking both the Grunt and Dewott, who'd nearly been kicked out of the way when she jumped up. The angered Trainer stomped up to the Grunt, who now looked more scared than satisfied, even though he was a good few inches taller than her. In the shock, he threw the Pokéball into the air, making to release the Pokémon and make a quick getaway, but White ran up and caught the Pokéball before it could open.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" snapped White, almost crushing the Pokéball in her hand as she spoke.

"I-I w-w-was just ab-about to ask y-you the same question," stammered the Grunt, his face very pale with shock. "I was just going to release that Pokémon!" He managed to regain his speech patterns, but still looked a little freaked out by White's sudden appearance.

"Exactly," growled White. "You say it like it's totally normal to release Pokémon." She tossed the Pokéball into the air and caught it neatly in her hand again before continuing. "As if everyone is _just _going to release their Pokémon. It makes me sick!"

"Everyone _should _ release their Pokémon!" argued the Grunt.

"And you're an exception?" She spun around to face Dewott, who was now standing behind her looking slightly grumpy at almost being kicked in the face. "Dewott, you're up!"

"Alright, then, if you want to play that way…" began the Grunt. "All reinforcements call in!" he yelled through the forest. His voice echoed around the forest, and soon at least five other Grunts were standing around him. White jumped back, surprised.

"Well, this might be tougher than I thought…" she muttered. Dewott growled menacingly, as if ready for battle. "That's the spirit. Okay, Lillipup, come on out!" White threw Lillipup's Pokéball into the air just as all six Team Plasma members threw out their Pokémon.

"Naw, six against one and the little girl hasn't given up already," drawled one of the female Grunts childishly. "You have no hope, White. Why don't you just give up already? You've caused a lot of trouble for Team Plasma, but that ends now!"

"Nah, I don't think so!"

White turned around at the somewhat familiar voice, as did all the Grunts, and gasped.

"Need some help, White?"

"Good timing!" White laughed, as Erin ran up to join the battle.

"Thanks," she said. "I met Cheren and Bianca at the Museum. They said you went to find Team Plasma a little while ago, so I decided to come and see if you needed any help…"

"Uhem," coughed a Grunt. "Can we get on with this?"

"Sure thing," said Erin, pulling out two Pokéballs. "Go, Purrloin and Blitzle!" The Trainer's Purrloin landed neatly on the ground and hissed at the Grunts. Blitzle sparked with impressive electricity and pawed the ground. "Alright, Blitzle, Flame Charge! Purrloin, use Pursuit!"

"Dewott, Water Gun! Lillipup, Take Down!"

The forest exploded with the sound of Pokémon moves and commands as the Pokémon fought. Leaves blew around the forest and trees creaked loudly as Pokémon hit them. Eventually, the Team Plasma Grunts had fled, yelling curses behind them.

"Nice one!" laughed White, high-fiving Erin, who grinned happily.

"You weren't so bad yourself," she said. "Did you find the dragon skull yet?"

"Not yet…" White sighed. She then remembered the Pokéball she'd taken from the Grunt. "Oh, I did find this, though… Team Plasma stole it, but I don't know who from."

"Ooh! What's in it?" said Erin eagerly.

"Let's find out." White threw the Pokéball into the air, revealing a small Sewaddle.

"Oh my goodness! It's so _cute_!" squealed Erin, clapping her hands and jumping up and down. Blitzle put its head down and sighed, shaking its head, while Purrloin simply sat on the ground, licking its paw.

"Well, it's not ours, so we'd better get going and find its Trainer and the dragon skull," said White, slightly irritated and growing impatient.

"Oh, right…" said Erin. "Okay, Blitzle, return!"

The two continued through the forest, White looking around, determined to find the owner of the Sewaddle, which followed along looking a little confused, and Erin skipping along merrily, humming to herself without a care in the world.

"Are you always up with the fairies?" sighed White irritably. She was happy to have the help defeating Team Plasma, but she now remembered why she was so happy to get rid of Erin back in Striaton City. Erin didn't answer, but her humming and singing was a more than good enough "yes" from her. "Anyway, I thought you were waiting 'till Purrloin got older before you travelled."

"I was going to, but I figured she wasn't going to get much stronger staying in Striaton, so I decided to leave," explained Erin. "Besides, I was getting excited about the idea of travelling since I met you and your friends."

"I guess that's a good reason," replied White. "Got any badges yet?"

"Yep!" sang Erin, pulling out a shiny badge case. "I battled the Gym before I left, just for kicks, and I ended up winning!" She showed White the Trio Badge that was held in her badge case.

"Nice," laughed White. "Planning on battling Lenora?"

"Yeah, when I get a bit stronger. I kinda want to be a Pokémon researcher, so I'm going to stay here for awhile so I can take a look at the forest," Erin said.

"That's cool." White nodded, though she couldn't really imagine Erin being a Pokémon researcher. She seemed to be, well, _was,_ easily distracted.

The two reached the end of the forest path to see one last Team Plasma Grunt standing around with a bored look on his face.

"Where the hell is our leader…?" he muttered. Before he could continue, however, he noticed White and Erin standing before him. "People actually followed us here? I mean, halt, children! How the hell did you two get through the others?"

"Yeah, cheap strategy, idiot!" scowled White. "The idea of having six against one gave it away that one of you can't beat a kid, so send out your Pokémon, I'll knock it out, you give me the dragon skull and then we can forget any of this ever happened."

Both Erin and the Grunt seemed rather surprised at White's reply, but the Grunt managed to shake it off and pulled out a Pokéball.

"If that's how you want to play, then fine. Go, Patrat!"

"Oh, Arceus, I thought you'd have better Pokémon by now," sighed White. However, she then realised that all of her Pokémon were exhausted from battling. She turned to Erin. "Uh, how are your Pokémon looking?"

"They're tired from that fight against the other Grunts," Erin whispered back. White grunted.

"Dammit, mine are, too…" she muttered. She then felt a small tugging at her shoelaces and looked down to see Sewaddle tugging at it. White stared at it for a moment, before something clicked in her head. "You want to battle?"

"Sew! Sewaddle!" The Bug Pokémon nodded confidently.

"Well, you're not mine, but it's worth a shot I guess…" White pulled out her Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon. "Alright, you know String Shot and Bug Bite… I can work with that. Okay, use Bug Bite!"

"Dodge it, Patrat. Now use Tackle!"

"String Shot, Sewaddle!"

Sewaddle spat silk at the Patrat, who was glued to the ground by the string.

"Good, now use Bug Bite!" Sewaddle bit the Patrat with its small front teeth. "Again!" Eventually, the Patrat was knocked out, and the Grunt sent out a Sandile, which went down in very much the same process, though much easier at Sewaddle had an advantage against Sandile's part Dark typing.

"Gah, fine, take the damn dragon skull!" The Grunt held up the skull for White to take, and Sewaddle spat silk to retrieve it.

"Thanks, Sewaddle," laughed White, taking the skull from the tiny Pokémon. "Well, that worked out well!"

"So the dream our king had… that dream is no closer to coming true…" sighed the Grunt.

"King?" said White, turning her head to the side. "So Ghetsis isn't your leader?"

"So, silly child! Ghetsis is the leader of the Seven Sages, but we do have an actual king," explained the Grunt. "But I can't say any more."

White was stuck in thought about who their king could be for the next few seconds, but snapped back to reality when Erin pulled her out of the way of a man wearing clothes much the same as Ghetsis, only different colours and not nearly as regal looking as his.

"How are you holding up, fellow subject of our king?" he asked, ignoring White and Erin's presence. The Grunt jumped back nervously.

"W-well… y-yah see…" he stammered, fiddling with his fingers. "G-Gorm, of the Seven Sages, I am mortified to tell you that the dragon skull has been taken from our hands…" The Grunt flinched nervously, waiting for the anger to hit him, but it never came.

"Don't worry, it's not important," sighed Gorm.

"W-what?" spluttered the Grunt, choking on the word and bursting into a coughing fit.

"According to our research, the skull is not of the legendary Dragon-type Pokémon," continued Gorm, as if the Grunt hadn't said anything. "It's completely unrelated." The Sage then turned to White and Erin, who were staying completely still in attempt to remain concealed in thin-air, even though they knew Gorm was aware of them.

"But we will not allow anyone to disrupt our plans and get away with it." Gorm's voice suddenly became much more menacing, on the contrary to his previously calm voice. White had to admit, the Sage's did seem to have a way with words that made you want to believe what they said, even if you knew it wasn't true.

"Oh, sweet!" White turned around to see Burgh coming up behind them. "The Bug Pokémon were getting all worked up, so here I came. And what do I spy? An important looking guy!"

White sweatdropped at the Gym Leader's attitude toward the scene. Gorm had just openly threatened White, and he didn't even seem to care.

"Are you here to help your friends whom we defeated?" continued Burgh.

"White, Burgh!" Lenora rushed up to the scene and stood next to White. "The others didn't have anything and… who the heck are you supposed to be?"

"I am one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma," replied Gorm. "Ghetsis, another of the Sages, will liberate Pokémon with words alone! To you, Gym Leaders, I tell you to know yourself and your comrades, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."

White didn't have a clue what the Sage meant by the saying, and nor did Erin, but the two continued listening without looking away.

"We will retreat quietly this time…" And with that, Gorm and the Grunt left the forest without another word.

"Wow, that was sort of deep," said Erin, breaking the silence between the group. Everyone seemed to be in a bit of a trance from the Sage's words, but everyone returned to reality once they heard Erin speaking.

"They're a speedy bunch," said Lenora. She then turned to White, remembering the reason she'd come into the forest in the first place. "White!" White jumped at her urgency, but handed her the dragon skull before she could say another word.

"Here," she said. Lenora took it gratefully, sighing with relief.

"Thank you!" she said happily.

"Well, this all worked out well. I'll be heading back to the Gym now, if you don't mind," announced Burgh. "Thanks, White, Lenora and…" He turned to Erin. "Mysterious girl who appeared out of nowhere that I don't know the name of. See you again!"

"Erin," said Erin quickly, though Burgh didn't seem to hear her as he was already walking away.

"Yes, thank you very much!" said Lenora. "I couldn't have done it without you, White, and you too…"

"Erin," repeated Erin. Lenora nodded firmly.

"Thank you too, Erin," she said. "I'll go see your friends and tell them we've found the skull. See you again!" Lenora then left, rushing back through the forest.

"Well, what about this little guy, then?" asked Erin, looking down at Sewaddle.

"Well, we'll go back to town and see if we can find the owner in the forest. It not, we'll go to the Pokémon Center and wait for its Trainer to come back," explained White, picking up Sewaddle. "Let's go."

Back at the Pokémon Center, White and Erin approached the counter and handed their Pokémon to Nurse Joy, who took them happily and handed them to an Audino. The two nodded thankfully and headed to the dining area to get some food.

"U-um, excuse me…" White looked up to see a nervous looking girl with jet black hair and green eyes looking down at her. Her face was pale and she seemed almost on the verge of tears. "Have you seen my…"

"Sew! Sewaddle!" Colour flooded back into the girl's face and she grinned happily, picking up the Pokémon, who'd leapt into her arms.

"Oh, thank Arceus!" she said, a sob escaping her mouth. "You found her! Thank you so much!"

"No problem. We were in the forest when a member of Team Plasma was about to release it, so I took it back," explained White. "I had to use it for a battle. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all!" said the girl, hugging her Pokémon tightly, taking her Pokéball from White, who was handing it to her. "My name's Maya. Sewaddle and I are travelling together, but a Team Plasma member jumped out of nowhere and stole its Pokéball. I thought for sure I was never going to see it again."

"Well, I'm White, and this is Erin," said White, gesturing towards her friend. Erin waved happily. Maya grinned, returning her Pokémon to her Pokéball.

"Well, thanks again," she said, bowing formally. "But I have to be going now."

"See you!" said White, waving to her as she left. "Well, that worked out well."

"Sure did!" laughed Erin. "It feels good helping people. But Team Plasma…"

"Yeah, they're idiots," sighed White. "But they said they had a king… I thought for sure Ghetsis was their leader, but apparently not."

-.-.

Ghetsis growled unhappily at Gorm, who whimpered a little, apparently trying to seem as small as possible.

"B-but sir! You must understand, the skull had nothing to do with Zekrom! Nothing of the sort!" assured Gorm. Ghetsis hit the ground with his cane angrily.

"I realise that, but if you're going to mess up with something as small as this, how can I trust you with bigger things?" he snorted. "Like ones involving the legendary dragons?"

"I-it won't happen again, I p-promise!" whimpered Gorm.

"It better not. I expect better work next time. I'm sure our king does too. Now leave me be."

"Y-yes, sir!" said Gorm, before rushing out of the room. Ghetsis smirked satisfactorily.

"That White girl had better watch out. She may have beaten our other members, but if she continues she'll have to face me." Ghetsis paused for a moment. "And I never lose."

A menacing laugh echoed through the castle, but it went unheard by anyone except for the small, black, fox-like Pokémon hiding in the corner of the room.

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**Misa: *Sigh* Done! I'll try to get a lot done during Easter, but until then, stay tuned and make sure to review!**

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	10. Crazy Castelia City

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**Misa: Hello and welcome to yet another chapter of Pokémon Black and White! This fortnight has been full of exams, work, exams, soccer, exams and, *gasp* more exams! But never fear! The Easter holidays are here and I can get down to writing a whole ton, so I'll try to get a few chapters up within the next two weeks.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

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"Okay, Lillipup! Finish it off with Tackle!"

Erin groaned as her Blitzle fainted and fell to the ground. White's Lillipup yapped happily and began chasing its tail.

"Good job, Blitzle," said Erin, returning her Pokémon to its Pokéball. White punched the air in victory and picked up Lillipup as the Pokémon ran up to her. She laughed as the Pokémon licked her face affectionately and patted the puppy on the head.

"You're getting tougher, Lillipup," she laughed. "Pretty soon, nothing will be able to stop you."

"One day, White," said Erin, laughing a little. "One day I'll beat you, fair and square. But, enough of that, you've gotten a whole lot tougher since I last saw you."

"Thanks," laughed White, returning Lillipup to its Pokéball. "Let's get going to Castelia, then!" She then began marching forward proudly. She looked around Pinwheel forest as she walked, Erin hurrying along behind her. She liked the forest, she had to admit. Everything was so… peaceful, like nothing could disturb it, except for Team Plasma a few days before, of course, but even then the forest didn't seem too disturbed.

"It almost seems unnatural," sighed Erin, looking around at the scenery. "Having a forest right near the biggest city in Unova, yet it's still so quiet here."

"Yeah, I get what you mean," agreed White. "Makes me wonder what the place was like before Castelia was built." White paused for a moment, though still walking as fast as ever down the road. "You know, the other day when I came here there were a whole lot more Trainers on this road…"

"Wait! No, Sewaddle!"

White shrieked as she suddenly felt her arm get covered in sticky silk. She shook her arm, as if the silk were going to come off simply by doing so. After a few seconds, though, her arm began to ache and she stopped shaking it.

"Oh, who am I kidding…" she muttered. At that point, a small Sewaddle appeared in front of her and the two of them were rather uncomfortably connected by the string coming out of the Pokémon's mouth.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" said a girl, who leaped over a fallen tree branch to come and meet them. "Sewaddle always… hey, you're White, aren't you?"

White raised an eyebrow questionably. "Yeah, that's me," she said, nodding slightly, though the conversation was made a little more awkward by the fact that her arm was now becoming ridiculously stiff along with the quickly hardening silk. "Oh, Maya!"

Maya beamed at her. "Yeah, I knew it was you," she laughed. "I thought you would have left already. Sewaddle seems to have been looking for you for the past few days."

"Guess she's become attached to me," White muttered, "in more ways than one."

"Oh, Arceus, sorry!" apologized Maya. "Sewaddle, I know you like White, but please use Bug Bite to get rid of that silk. It's not going to make her like you any more than she already does."

"Sew! Sewaddle!" cried Sewaddle. White giggled quietly as the Pokémon leaped up onto her shoulder and began to nibble on her arm. The silk slowly began to fall off her arm, as if it was melting.

"Sewaddle have special silk, so it's hard to break it unless you use Bug Bite to get it off," explained Maya. "When I first hatched Sewaddle from an egg she liked to do that to me all the time. I think it's just an unusual way of showing affection."

"You hatched Sewaddle from an egg?" said Erin eagerly. She seemed extremely intrigued by the fact. White, on the other hand, was mainly focussing on the newly found freedom of her right arm.

"Yeah, I'm a Pokémon Breeder, but I've decided to take the Pokémon Gym Challenge to help them grow," explained Maya, picking up her Sewaddle and stroking it on the head. "Sewaddle isn't actually the first Pokémon I've hatched. I've hatched quite a few, but I left them with my sister over in Sinnoh so I could come and look at Pokémon in Unova."

"So you're from Sinnoh?" questioned White. "How long have you been in Unova for?"

"Only a few months," replied Maya. "I wanted to breed Pokémon here so I could get an idea of what Pokémon are native to Unova."

"I raised my Purrloin from an egg!" proclaimed Erin proudly. "My dad gave it to me as an egg awhile ago…" Erin stopped walking for a moment and White and Maya stopped walking and turned around to see her mouth drop open. "Look!" she breathed, pointing in front of her. White and Maya turned around and looked up.

"Wow…" they said in unison. The trees in the forest were now beginning to break apart and were becoming less dense, revealing a large bridge. At the end of the bridge was Castelia City and all its skyscrapers. Living in Nuvema town her entire life, White had never seen anything like it up close.

"I've seen Castelia from a small lookout near my place, but I've never actually been their," she said quietly. "I honestly never expected it to look this big up close."

"Well, let's actually get there then and see it from inside the city!" sang Erin excitedly, running ahead of Maya and White.

The three of them ran up towards Skyarrow Bridge and White stared up at the stairs leading up to the bridge. Her mouth dropped open and she realised the length of the bridge.

"We have to walk over _that_?" she said. Her eyes looked back and forth between each end of the bridge a few times before settling on Maya and Erin, who both chuckled at her reaction.

"Well, _yeah,_" giggled Erin. "Unless you have a Pokémon that can fly you across."

"B-but that'll take like, two hours…" White whined, still staring at the two girls, as if they were going to carry her across if she complained enough.

"Well, we'd better get going!" chirped Maya, skipping ahead of them. White groaned loudly and continued to complain until Maya cut in. "Don't worry; I've walked over it before. It only takes about half an hour."

"Only…" grumbled White. She practically had to be dragged up the stairs and halfway across the bridge by both Maya and Erin, though they didn't seem to mind. About fifteen minutes later, she shook their hands off and sighed.

"Okay, I'll walk by myself now," she said. The lights shone in the distance of the city against the sun, which was setting behind the city. "It looks pretty close now, it's kind of pretty."

"Agreed," breathed Maya. Most of the buildings were black, but the lights shining out of every single building lit it up so the skyscrapers looked more golden than black. The three continued walking across the bridge at a slightly slower pace than before.

"My dad used to work in Castelia," sighed White. Maya and Erin turned to her.

"Why "used to"?" Erin said. White's expression suddenly became stern and a little glint appeared in her eye, making her look rather angry and a little scary.

"You know what," she growled, beginning to walk again, determined not to look at the other two, "never mind."

Another fifteen minutes or so later, they reached the end of the bridge and stepped foot into Castelia City. White gazed up at the skyscrapers with her mouth hanging open.

"Impressive," she said, nodding slightly. "Well, I'm going to the Pokémon Center to rest up." She grinned back at Maya and Erin before running off through the city, but before she could get to the Pokémon Center, she skidded to a halt and realised she didn't have a clue where she was going. She looked around and realised there were very few people still walking out in the streets, none of which looked particularly friendly.

White could do nothing but walk around aimlessly until she found a decent looking building or someone she could talk to. Eventually, she reached a forked road, each leading down a rather thin alleyway.

"Huh, dark alleyway or even darker alleyway…?" she muttered to herself, before confidently picking the dark alleyway, leaving the darker one in peace. "Dammit… why'd I have to grow up in Nuvema Town…?"

After walking down the long alleyway, turning around at every single sound she heard, she found herself in a small, circular park lit by small, white lights. She sat down on a bench and pulled out Dewott's Pokéball.

"Hey, buddy," she laughed, patting her Pokémon on the head. "I could use some company."

"Dew," cried Dewott, before pointing to a road behind them that lead to the desert. White turned around confusedly and saw a group of Team Plasma members coming from the route, all laughing thuggishly amongst each other. White crouched down behind a bush in the small round-a-bout that sat in the centre of the park.

"Castelia City," said one of them. "I feel like a kid in a candy store with all the Pokémon here for the taking. It'll be a piece of cake."

"Yeah, but we'd better get going," chortled another. "We don't want to be late for the meeting with Ghetsis."

The group of Grunts nodded and walked through the path and into the city. White glared at them from behind the bush, crouching as low as possible as to not be seen.

"Let's tail 'em," she said to Dewott, who nodded firmly in agreement. The two stood up slowly and tip-toed down the road the group went down previously. She looked around the totally empty street, but the group wasn't there. "What the…" White muttered. "That's weird…"

She continued walking, slowly as possible and keeping an eye around her in case they were hiding and ready to jump out at her. She sighed quietly, shaking her head. These guys were sneaky and it was getting on her nerves.

"Okay, now we just need to figure out where the darn Pokémon Center is," she mumbled, sighing inwardly, "but where the hell…"

"Oh, White!"

White jumped back in shock and went all-out-ninja on the person behind her, well, she almost did, and they probably would have been karate-chopped in half if it hadn't been Burgh standing behind her. The Gym-leader chuckled lightly.

"Hello," he said, bowing slightly. "What are you doing up this late?"

"I could ask you the same question," scowled White, still in shock from Burgh's sudden appearance.

"Just doing a little late night drawing," he said. "Now, it's your turn to answer my question."

White sighed frustratingly. "I'm lost…" she grumbled. Burgh tapped his foot.

"Well, it's not uncommon in Castelia," he said. "I'll show you to the Pokémon Center, if you like." White grinned and nodded thanks. "Alright, let's go." She followed Burgh through the city down the main road until they reached a large, lit up sign that read "Pokémon Center".

"Huh…" said White. "How I missed that is beyond me."

"Well, I'll see you later, White," Burgh said. White nodded briskly. "I have to go set up for the battle tournament tomorrow." White raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Battle tournament?" she said.

"Yep, it's a tournament we hold every month in Castelia," explained Burgh. "It's quite popular. It's a novice tournament, though, so you can only enter if you have 3 badges or under. I'm quite surprised you didn't know about it."

"Well, can I still sign up?" asked White, determined fire in her eyes. Burgh nodded and she punched the air happily. "Sweet! Well, I'd better get to bed. Later, Burgh!" She ran into the Pokémon Center, Burgh chuckling quietly behind her.

"White!" Bianca shrieked, running up to her. "Hi!"

"Hey, Bianca," said White. "When did you get here?"

"We met Maya and Erin when they came in. They said they came with you, but you ran here before them. We began to get worried when you didn't show." Bianca sighed with relief. "Come on, Cheren and the other two are over there."

"…Erin's annoying Cheren, isn't she…?" muttered White. Bianca giggled slightly.

"How'd you guess?" she said, almost cracking up laughing. "Well, it's not hard to figure out, I s'pose. Come on, let's go rescue him." White and Bianca purposely walked rather slowly to their table.

"…and then I looked around and White was standing in the forest surrounded totally by Team Plasma Grunts, so I jumped down from the tree and did a really dramatic pose in front of her and me and my super strong Pokémon saved her from losing the battle and… oh, hi, White!" Erin grinned widely at White, who sweatdropped awkwardly.

"Hi, Erin," she said dully.

"Where were you?" asked Maya, crossing her arms and glaring at her.

"I may or may not have gotten a little lost," sighed White. Maya promptly burst out laughing.

"And that's why you don't run away from your friends in Castelia City," she giggled. White growled annoyingly.

"Shut it," she snapped. "Anyway, are you guys entering the tournament tomorrow?"

"Tournament?" questioned Maya, turning her head to the side. She looked at White eagerly, urging her to go on.

"Yeah, there's a battle tournament tomorrow," cut in Cheren. "I'm entering."

"Sweet," said White. "But I'm warning you, I'm going to win!"

"Dream on." Cheren rolled his eyes. "Anyway, are you guys entering the tournament?" He turned to Maya, Bianca and Erin.

"Can't hurt," shrugged Maya. "It'll give me and my Pokémon some battling experience."

"Yeah, alright," agreed Bianca. Erin nodded quickly and grinned.

"Alright, now we're talking!" White pumped her fist in the air. "But I'll warn you, I'll beat you all!"

"Dewott!" Dewott cried, puffing out her chest proudly and tapping it. White giggled lightly and pulled out his Pokéball.

"Alright, buddy, it's early morning training tomorrow," she said, "so get some rest." She returned the Pokémon to its Pokéball and pocketed it. "Okay, I'm off to bed. You coming, Bianca?"

"S-sure thing!" said Bianca hastily, standing up. "Night, guys."

"Night!" called Erin and Maya in unison. "See yah in the morning when I train to crush you both in the tournament!"

"Dream on!" laughed White.

-.-.-

"Tournaments, they sicken me…" muttered N, ripping the "Castelia Battle Tournament" poster off the wall of one of the buildings' walls. "Battling Pokémon for fun."

"_Well, I guess that's sort of what being a Trainer's all about,"_ sighed Zorua. He thought of what Ghetsis had said the other night, about not letting anyone get in his way. He wondered whether he should tell N about it, but he decided against it. N wouldn't believe him unless he heard it come out of Ghetsis' own mouth.

"Yes, and if that's the case then being a Trainer is a horrible thing," said N absentmindedly. Zorua rolled his eyes irritably.

"_You can't talk,"_ he growled. "_You battle Pokémon, too_."

"Yes, but I battle for a different reason," stated N. "I battle for the freedom of Pokémon."

"_That was possibly the most ironic thing I've ever heard you say," _mumbled Zorua.

"We need to get to our temporary hideout," said N, disregarding Zorua's comment completely. "Ghetsis wants to meet with me."

"_Remind me whose idea it was to make a hideout right across the road from a Gym." _Zorua rolled his eyes again as he trotted along behind N, who once again didn't reply to his comment. He followed N into the hideout where Ghetsis and a few other of the Seven Sages stood, along with five or so Team Plasma Grunts, who all bowed quickly as soon as they saw N.

"Welcome, my King!" they chorused. N held a hand up to them and nodded before addressing Ghetsis.

"Do we have a plan for tomorrow?" he asked. Ghetsis' eyes glinted evilly, though this went unnoticed by N, and anyone else, for that matter.

"Yes, my King, I will explain it to you, though you will not be needed," he said. N nodded before listening to Ghetsis statement as close as possible along with the Grunts. At the end of the explanation, he nodded briskly before calling Zorua, thanking Ghetsis and leaving the room.

-.-.-

White woke up the next morning and leapt out of bed as soon as she opened her eyes. She checked the clock, which read six o'clock and grinned to herself. She got dressed and rushed out of the Pokémon Center, pulling her boots on as she ran, without even acknowledging Bianca and pulled out all three of her Pokémon.

"Alright, guys, come on out!" she called, throwing her Pokémon into the air. All three of them landed on the ground and cried out eagerly. "Let's get training! Tournament's not going to win itself!"

"Dewott!"

"Pup! Pup!"

"Pidove!"

About two hours later, White stopped her training when Cheren came up to her.

"Signups for the tournament end in an hour, and there's a limited amount of spaces, so you'd better get it quick," he said. White nodded briskly before returning all her Pokémon but Dewott to their Pokéballs.

"Alright, let's go, then," she said eagerly, running ahead of Cheren to the Pokémon Center, where they met Maya and Erin at the reception counter.

"Where's Bianca?" asked Cheren. Maya and Erin looked around worriedly before shaking their heads.

"Not sure, she went out to the Prime Pier an hour or so ago and she hasn't come back yet," explained Erin, looking over her shoulder as if expecting Bianca to walk through the door at any moment.

"Okay, we'll sign up then go look for her," sighed White. "She probably never even went to the Prime Pier. I'll bet she's utterly lost."

"Probably," muttered Cheren. The four of them signed up for the tournament, handing the reception lady their Trainer Cards and thanking her before leaving the desk. The tournament wasn't until later that afternoon, so they still had plenty of time to look for Bianca, though she only had an hour to sign up before the deadline closed.

"Alright, you guys stay here in case she gets back," ordered White. Maya and Erin saluted confidently. "Call us on the X-transceiver if she gets back. Cheren and I will look around the city."

"Aye aye, captain!" laughed Erin. White smiled slightly before she and Cheren left the Pokémon Center and headed straight for the Prime Pier.

"Luckily you know your way around here," said White. Cheren shot her a quizzical glance. "Remember last night? When I got entirely lost?"

"Right…" muttered Cheren. "Prime Pier's down here, the next pier along."

White nodded quickly as the two ran down the steps leading to the pier where they saw Bianca standing with her head in her hands next to Burgh. A girl with long, purple hair tied back in a low ponytail with two pigtails at the side stood next to her with her arm around her shoulder.

"Bianca, what the hell happened?" asked White, running up to her friend. Bianca looked up at her, tears in her eyes. White hugged her friend as she told her what happened.

"T-Team Plasma…" sobbed Bianca. "T-they stole my M-Munna…" White let her go instantly and glared around her.

"Ugh! I'm going to _murder _them!" she growled, clenching her fists. Cheren Pat Bianca on her shoulder comfortingly, which seemed to lighten her up a little.

"We'll get Munna back, no doubt about it," he said confidently. Bianca smiled at him and wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Thanks, Cheren," she said. White raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"What, no thanks for me?" she questioned, tapping her foot.

"Um, are you two Bianca's friends?" asked the purple haired girl. White turned to her quickly and nodded firmly.

"Yeah, I'm White and this is Cheren, who're you?" she said, quite a bit of demand in her voice. The girl laughed awkwardly before answering.

"My name's Iris," the girl said. "I heard Bianca scream from a mile away, so I heard the situation and ran after them, but…" Iris's face looked rather guilty. "This city's so big, I'm afraid I lost them."

"It's alright, you did the best you could," assured Burgh. "But we can't give up after one search. We have to give chase again."

"But it's so bad!" growled Iris. "Who would take peoples' Pokémon? They're all crazy idiots!'

"I think I like this girl," smirked White. Cheren elbowed her in the ribs and mouthed something like "Not the time". "Sorry, anyway, where do we search?" continued White.

"Well, that might be tough. Finding Team Plasma here will be like finding a needle in a haystack," sighed Burgh, tapping his foot impatiently. "Best we can do is find one of them and wait 'till they lead us exactly where we want to go."

"Like him?" said White, pointing to a confident looking Grunt at the foot of the stairs. As soon as he saw them, he froze completely.

"Dammit!" he cursed. "Last time went well, so I thought I'd snag another Pokémon, but looks like that won't work now, will it? What with the Gym Leader standing around here and everything.

"Exactly like that one," said Burgh. The five of them followed Burgh up the steps and tailed the Team Plasma Grunt onto a road where the Gym was located. It was hard trying to follow one person through a whole crowd of people. Luckily it's not hard to tail someone when they're dressed like a weird looking knight.

"They're headed to that building!" called Iris through the crowd. White nodded a thanks and the three sprinted even faster down the road, dodging the confused looking crowd, and into a large building across the road from the Gym.

"Do we go in?" panted White, as the other four stopped in front of the door behind her. "They did run in here, right?"

"I assume so, no harm checking," said Cheren. They all nodded and walked into the building, where they were stopped by three Team Plasma Grunts who stood guard by the elevator at the back of the large room.

"What are you talking about?" babbled one of the Grunts hastily. "There aren't any others up this elevator, nor are their any of the Seven Sages. No, not at all _why would you say that_?" White sweatdropped uncertainly.

"Okay, dude, you totally gave that one away," she sighed. The Grunt smacked his forehead.

"Fine, I'll battle you and you can find out for yourself!" he said. White pulled out Pidove's Pokéball and threw it.

"Fine by me," she smirked. "Burgh, Iris, you take the other two!"

"No, I want to take one!" said Bianca hastily, pulling out her Tepig's Pokéball. "They stole my Pokémon. I need to get them back for that!"

"Alright, I'll sit this one out," said Burgh. White smiled at Bianca before beginning to battle her Grunt. She took out his Sandile with ease, and then repeated the same sequence of events with the second Sandile; he would attempt to Mud-Slap Pidove and miss, then Pidove would use Air Cutter on Sandile and be done with it.

"Well, that was almost annoyingly easy…" muttered White. She looked up at her Pidove to return it to its Pokéball, but instead saw it glowing white. She grinned happily before exclaiming, "Pidove's evolving!"

They all watched as her Pokémon shifted and changed, growing into a larger bird with longer tail feathers and a much more menacing appearance. White clapped her hands together in delight before her new Tranquill flew onto her arm and perched itself there.

"Nice one!" she said. Tranquill cooed before White returned it to its Pokéball. "Alright, you guys are going down now!"

"What's going on here?" The three beaten Grunts turned around to see Ghetsis and two other Sages White had never seen before stepping out of the elevator. "You two didn't get beaten by these girls, did you? Surely not." The Grunts gulped nervously.

"W-we're sorry sir!" they cried. Ghetsis shook his head and pushed him out of the way, rolling his eyes impatiently.

"Not important," he growled, though something about his tone told White that it was very important. "Well, White, long time no see."

"Likewise," grumbled White.

"I thought it would be amusing to prepare a hideout in front of a Gym," said the Sage with black robes and pure white hair standing to the left of Ghetsis. "I didn't realise we would get spotted so quickly.

"Dumbass…" muttered White, though no one heard her remark.

"Not to worry, Bronius," Ghetsis assured. "We already have an exceptional base of operations. Is everyone aware of the legend founding Unova?"

"I am!" declared Iris. "It's the one with the dragon Pokémon, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is," nodded Ghetsis. "The dragons appeared before two heroes, the black one before the hero who sought ideals, where as the white dragon appeared to the one who sought truth. I favour the black dragon, personally, who shared its knowledge with the hero and bared its fangs at those who stood against it. Together, the power of this Pokémon and the hero brought unity to the hearts of everyone in the land, and that is how Unova was created. We will bring back the Pokémon and the hero once again! If we do that, we can easily get through to the public and create the world that I-…" Ghetsis coughed quickly. "-I mean, Team Plasma, desires!"

"You know, Ghetsis, was it?" asked Burgh. "Here in Castelia City, we have many different kinds of people and Pokémon. Everyone's ways of thinking are different. Honestly, there's something about what you just said that I don't quite get. One thing we all have in common is that we all care a lot about Pokémon. Even people meeting for the first time can talk about and relate to Pokémon. Or battle or trade, for that matter. I remember your speech in Accumula Town, and you were responsible to rethink my relationship with Pokémon. For that, I thank you. At that time, I made a promise. I promised myself that I would dedicate myself to Pokémon even more strongly. What you guys are doing, aren't you just going to strengthen the bond between people and Pokémon?"

Ghetsis laughed menacingly before replying to Burgh. "You are quite hard to figure out, a little more intelligent than I expected, even. I am fond of intelligent people, you see, and you'll enjoy hearing about this. From every corner of the world, I have gathered knowledgeable people for out king's benefit. You can call them the Seven Sages. We will submit to your opinion and be on our way." He turned to the Grunt on his right. "You, return the girl's Pokémon."

The Grunt sighed before letting Bianca's Munna out of its Pokéball and tossing the ball at her while the small pink Pokémon floated over to Bianca happily. Bianca let a tear roll down her cheek while she hugged her Pokémon tightly.

"T-thank you…" she sobbed. White shot her a glare.

"Bianca, don't thank them!" she growled. "They stole it, remember?"

"Y-yes, but… I'm just so happy to have my Munna back…" whispered Bianca.

"Yes, the friendship between Pokémon and people can be very touching, but in order to liberate Pokémon from people, we will revive the legend in Unova and win over the hearts and minds of everyone," said Ghetsis. "Farewell…" The room suddenly went pitch black for a split second, and when it lit up again the sages and Grunts had disappeared.

"Well, that was weird…" muttered White, scratching her head.

"Sure was," said Cheren.

"What are you doing, Burgh!" snapped Iris. "You're letting them get away!"

"Ugh! What do we do if anything's happened to the other stolen Pokémon?" he said.

"It's okay, thank you, Iris," said Bianca, bowing slightly, her Munna still nestled safely in her arms.

"So, what do you guys plan on doing now?" asked Burgh. White suddenly remembered why they'd gone looking for Bianca in the first place.

"Oh, yeah!" she exclaimed. "Bianca, if you're going to enter the tournament…" White checked her watch and frowned. "Oh… the signups ended about five minutes ago…"

"No, no, it's okay!" assured Burgh. White turned to him confusedly. "I'll come with you and explain to the receptionist what's happened. She'll have to let you in, I help organise the tournament after all." Bianca's eyes lit up.

"Thanks Burgh!" she squeaked, beaming at him.

"Oh, you guys are in the tournament?" said Iris happily, clapping her hands. "Great, I'll see you guys there!" She then ran out of the room eagerly.

"That Iris sure is a handful," sighed Burgh, shaking his head. "Come on, let's go get you signed up, Bianca."

"Alright," said Bianca eagerly. "Thanks for the help, guys!" She threw her arms around White, then did the same to Cheren, though she seemed to hug him considerably tighter than she did White, who noticed that Cheren's usually pale cheeks had gone _very _slightly pink.

"Come on, lovebirds, hurry it up," she giggled, before noticing the look on Bianca's face and running out of the building as fast as she could as to not get slapped across the face by her friend.

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**Misa: Okay, done! I'll try to update soon since I have two weeks off, but until then, be sure to review!**

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	11. Let The Battles Begin

**Pokémon Black and White**

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**Misa: 'Sup, guys! I'm back with another chapter of Pokémon Black and White. This chapter will be covering the Battle Tournament, so there are a lot of battles… (Actually, there's only three, but still…) Anyways, without further ado, take it away, disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

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"Welcome, one and all, to the eleventh monthly Castelia Battle Tournament!"

The massive crowd cheered loudly as the announcer began speaking. Trainers and Pokémon gathered behind the arena, going through last minute battle strategies. A group of six stood in a corner, each chatting happily to each other.

"Alright! Dewott, Tranquill and Lillipup!" White said. Her three Pokémon cried out to her confidently. "Well, I can't think up much of a strategy until I see the other Pokémon, but our current strategy; battle and win!"

Cheren sweatdropped uncertainly. "That's not exactly a strategy…" he muttered. White glared at him and raised an eyebrow.

"So, what's _your _strategy?" she demanded. Cheren stepped back and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, a little scared.

"They're always like this before competitions," whispered Bianca to Iris, Maya and Erin. "Even before we had our Pokémon, White's always been overly-competitive and Cheren's always the one stuck trying to calm her down. I don't know why he even tries. He's got physical and mental scars from trying to calm her down…"

"Remind me to never get on White's nerves," laughed Iris. White shot her a glare, looking away from Cheren momentarily.

"You talking about me?" she asked, a menacing glint in her eyes. Iris jumped back and sweatdropped.

"No… no, not at all!" she insisted, waving a hand dismissively. White was about to reply, but the commentator was beginning to go over the rules of the competition.

"This tournament will be a four round competition. The first three rounds will be simple knock-out challenges, where the loser is gone for good, where as the last round will be where the two winners go head-to-head for the victory cup!" The woman commentating pointed towards a large, golden trophy. White was so busy staring at it that she didn't notice the part about also winning a month-supply bag of Poffins.

"Impressive," said Maya, nodding her head.

"Sew! Sewaddle!" agreed Sewaddle. Maya laughed and patted her Pokémon on the head before turning to the screen again as the first round battle opponents were announced.

"Now, the tournament will be set in a span of three days, the first day will be round one, the second, round two, and the third will be rounds three and four," explained the commentator. "Now, we will announce the first round battle opponents. Turn your attention to the screen!" Everyone's eyes shifted to the massive screen where the competitors' faces were now being shown and shuffled around. Eventually, they stopped at who the people would be battling. White searched for her face to see she was paired up with some guy named Jordan. He had jet black hair and bright green eyes, though nothing else was shown on the screen other than his face.

"Alright," she said. "Lillipup, you'll be my first round Pokémon!"

"Pup!" yapped Lillipup happily, wagging her tail.

"Well, looks like there are sixteen people in the competition," stated Erin. "So eight of them will make it into round two, and only four of us into round three."

"Well, then we all have to get through!" said White confidently. None of them were battling each other, so all of them had the chance. "My battle's in half an hour, so I'm headed for arena four!"

"Alright, good luck, White!" the other five chorused. White waved behind them and grinned.

"Yeah, same for you guys," she called back. She bent down and picked up Lillipup. "Let's win this!" Lillipup licked her Trainer's face affectionately. White giggled at the action before taking her place in the battlers' stands around the arena. She looked over to the other side of the arena to see Jordan. He didn't have a Pokémon out so he must have wanted to keep it a secret.

"White!" The Trainer turned around to see Cheren rushing up behind her.

"Oh, hey!" said White. "What're you doing here?"

"I've got the first battle in here, the one before yours," he stated. White nodded.

"Know who you're battling?" asked White. Cheren pointed to the other stand to see a girl with long, dark red hair and piercing blue eyes talking to Jordan. She was rather tall and wore a black jacket and black cargo pants. She was holding a Darumaka in her arms. White raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"Got any idea who you'll be using?" she questioned. Cheren shook his head.

"I'm thinking Purrloin," he stated after a few seconds. "I was going to use Servine, but that means that Darumaka would have a type advantage."

"How'd you know she's even going to use the Darumaka," asked White. Cheren shrugged.

"Well, now I know she's got it, there's always a chance she will. Better play on the safe side," he continued. "That said, I don't really feel like going for Panpour because then I'd have the type advantage, and I want to win based on skill, not pure luck. Also, she could be trying to make me want to use a Water-type. She's probably got a Blitzle shoved up her sleeve somewhere."

"Fair enough," laughed White. "So you're using Purrloin I assume?"

"Guess so," sighed Cheren. "Besides, Purrloin's tricky and should be able to out-speed anything."

"Or trick them into smashing their head into a wall," said White simply. Cheren chuckled at her comment before pulling out Purrloin's Pokéball.

"Alright!" called the commentator. "The first battle between Cheren and Katherine will now begin! Opponents, take your places!"

"Good luck," said White, patting Cheren on the shoulder. The boy just nodded before stepping out on to the arena along with the girl, who they now knew as Katherine.

"Okay, Pokémon will be sent out on three… two… one!"

"Purrloin, you're up!"

"Darumaka, let's do this!"

"So she did use Darumaka," muttered White. "Oh, well, Cheren didn't want the type advantage anyway. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out."

"Darumaka, Fire Punch!"

"Dodge, Purrloin!" Darumaka threw a fiery punch at Purrloin, who dodged it with ease.

"This will be an interesting battle!" said the commentator. "Darumaka seems to be attacking with brute force, where as Purrloin had a more strategic method behind it."

"Fire Punch again, Darumaka!"

"Dodge, Purrloin," ordered Cheren. He was so casual about his battling, like nothing could faze him. That said, he'd need to make a move soon or Purrloin would get tired. White then grasped what Cheren was trying to do. Purrloin, being more nimble and agile than Darumaka, would not get tired easily, where as Darumaka's strategy seemed to be knock it out hard and knock it out fast. When this didn't happen, White could already see Darumaka showing signs of exhaustion.

"Darumaka, Fire Punch!"

"Not again…" muttered White, though this time the Fire Punch seemed to be a weaker flame than the previous few. She turned her gaze to Cheren to catch him smirking.

"Dodge, Purrloin."

"Make a move, dammit!" yelled Katherine, shaking her fist frustratingly. "Fire Punch again, Darumaka!"

"Now, use Assist," commanded Cheren. Purrloin held up its paw, which was enveloped in white light, and shot a harsh stream of water right at Darumaka, who fell to the ground. "Now, finish it with Fury Swipes!"

After that, the battle was over in a matter of seconds. Katherine growled frustratingly and returned her Pokémon, where as Cheren just picked up Purrloin, who didn't look tired at all. The Pokémon just sat in his arms, licking its paw. Cheren chuckled at it before walking back over to where White stood.

"The winner is Cheren!" called the commentator, and the stadium erupted with cheers.

"Nice going," said White. Cheren smirked and shook his head.

"That girl rushed into things too quickly. That's the problem with having a Darumaka." White turned her head to the side confusedly. "Darumaka are brute force and nothing else, and they have lower accuracy because of that. If you know how to train one, they can grow up to be some of the strongest Pokémon you could pick, but if you don't… well, you're not going to do much winning."

"I guess so," muttered White. "You staying to watch my battle?"

"I guess so," said Cheren. "I don't have anything better to do I suppose."

"Cool!" laughed White. "You ready, Lillipup?" Lillipup yapped loudly in response.

"The next battle will be between White and Jordan," called the commentator. White grinned at Cheren as she walked onto the battlefield.

"Wish me luck," she called back. Cheren nodded and waved to her. White just caught a glance of Erin rushing up to the stand just before she turned around. Oh, Arceus, this would be an interesting few minutes for Cheren.

"Alright, send out your Pokémon on three… two… one!"

"Lillipup, you're up!"

"Go, Whirlipede!"

"Let the battle begin!" said the commentator. Lillipup glared at the Whirlipede, waiting for a command from her Trainer. Jordan and Whirlipede, on the other hand, got straight into the battle.

"Whirlipede, Rollout!"

"Dodge it, Lillipup!" Lillipup easily dodged the first attack, but the Whirlipede turned around on the wall and came back for her. "Keep dodging it, Lillipup!"

"Keep using Rollout, Whirlipede!"

The battle was tiring for both the Pokémon and the Trainers. Lillipup was nimbly dodging the Rollout attacks, which kept turning around and coming back to her, though the puppy Pokémon seemed to be growing tired quickly.

Whirlipede, on the other hand, was still rolling around on the ground and didn't seem able to stop itself, which could prove troublesome for the battle later on.

"I have to find a way around that Rollout…" muttered White. She looked at the Bug-Pokémon, which was now chasing Lillipup around the field in a rather comedic way. "It must have a weak spot." White looked at the side of the Whirlipede before the light bulb flashing over her head was practically visible. "That's it! Lillipup, use Tackle, but aim for the side of it!"

Lillipup did as told, and Whirlipede was thrown into the wall at the side, looking slightly dizzy.

"Whirlipede, use Poison Sting!" ordered Jordan, jumping back into action once he realised he could attack once again.

"Jump and dodge, Lillipup, then use Bite!"

Lillipup leaped out of the way from the once-again rolling Pokémon, only this time Whirlipede was able to stop itself from rolling by skidding to the side. Unfortunately, stopping probably wasn't the best idea as Lillipup crashed down on it from the above and bit into its flesh.

"Finish it, Lillipup! Use Take Down!"

Finally, the rather painful battle was over and Whirlipede was lying on the ground, fainted. This didn't come at expense to the exhausted looking Lillipup, however, who was still standing but panting loudly.

"Whirlipede is unable to battle! Lillipup wins!"

The crowd cheered again as White ran over and picked up Lillipup, returning it to its Pokéball.

"Good job, buddy," she laughed. Jordan walked up to her and held out his hand, which she shook. "Good battle, I thought we were going to lose."

"Yeah, I probably shouldn't have started off with Rollout," laughed Jordan. "But I guess I learned for next time."

"Yeah," replied White, before waving goodbye to him and walking off the battlefield to meet Cheren and Erin. Well, she didn't exactly walk up to them. Erin was doing her usual babbling on about absolutely nothing, so, not really wanting to join in the conversation, White left them be and returned to the Pokémon Center where Maya was sitting, patting her Eevee.

"Hey, White!" she greeted, standing up and walking over to her.

"Hey, did you win?" asked White. Maya nodded.

"Yeah, it was a piece of cake with Eevee here," she laughed, stroking her Pokémon's head. White gaped at the Pokémon, having never seen an Eevee before, while Maya just laughed.

"I came from Sinnoh, remember, so I didn't get Eevee from here," she explained. "Eevee was the only Pokémon I brought here from Sinnoh. She's my most trusted partner." Maya smiled and the two walked to a table in the corner of the room. "So I'm assuming you won?"

"Yeah, but not easily," laughed White. "I versed this guy called Jordan and his Whirlipede, which kept using Rollout. The majority of the battle we just stood there watching Lillipup run away from it."

"And what about Cheren's battle?" asked Maya.

"Thrashed his opponent," said White simply. "She wasn't that great, to be honest. A bit full of herself, if you ask me."

"Well, serves her right, then. Anyway, Erin won her battle by a sliver with her Blitzle, and I'm pretty sure Bianca and Iris won, too."

After a half hour or so, Bianca and Iris emerged through the doors, closely followed by a zombified-looking Cheren and a much less zombified-looking Erin. Cheren looked over at White helplessly and mouthed "help me", or something along those lines. White mouthed back "you're on your own, brainiac" while grinning, much to Cheren's dismay, before returning to her cheeseburger.

-.-.-

The next morning, round two of the tournament was about to begin. White stared up at the scoreboard to see who she was paired with. She felt someone tap her on the shoulder and turned around to see Cheren.

"Well, looks like you're with me, White," he smirked. White glanced back at the scoreboard and, seeing she was in fact paired up with Cheren, grinned at him.

"You're on," she said confidently, balling a fist and glaring at him confidently. "And you're going down."

"Dream on," laughed Cheren, before the two turned around to see who everyone else was paired with. "Okay, so it's Bianca with Erin, Maya with some random guy and Iris with the other random guy."

"Uh, I think Bianca and Erin's fight will be interesting, let's go watch it after," laughed White, though her voice was sort of awkward as she stared at the two girls, who were glaring at each other and arguing in their usual babble-language which no one else could understand.

"Well, we're in arena two, come on Cheren," said White, grabbing Cheren's wrist and dragging him off towards their battle. "I'm going to win, I can tell."

"Yeah, you will if you break my wrist and I can't throw my Pokéball," growled Cheren, though the overconfident girl didn't seem to notice this comment as she just kept walking.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines, N was standing with Zorua in his arms, watching White and Cheren take their marks.

"_Isn't that that White girl?_" asked Zorua. N nodded and sat down on the chair behind him. Zorua's eyes lit up. "_Oh, and her friend Cheren. This'll be a good battle!"_ N shot him a glare before turning back to the battlefield.

"No battle is a good battle," he muttered. "I don't see the point in these tournaments. The Pokémon battle for the Trainers so the humans get the prizes."

"_Well, the humans get the trophy," _corrected Zorua. "_Really, the Poffins are for the Pokémon, considering humans don't exactly eat Poffins."_

"It's still horrible and should not happen," said N simply. "The Trainers should feed their Pokémon regardless of whether they win a stupid battle or not." Zorua sweatdropped at this.

"_Well, being Trainers, I'm sure they do feed their Pokémon…"_ he muttered, but N shook this comment off as the battle was beginning. "_Why are we here, anyway? If you don't like watching battles…"_

"I need to see how different Trainers react to different situations," said N. "Ghetsis told me to."

"_Or he was just trying to get you out of the way for some horrid plan of his,"_ sighed Zorua, though his voice was just low enough for N not to hear.

In the crowd, the two were gaining quite a few stares from the audience, seeing N talking to a Pokémon as if he could actually understand what it was saying, what nonsense is that?

"Send out your Pokémon in three… two… one!" called the commentator. White and Cheren threw their Pokémon into the air at exactly the same time.

"Tranquill, you're up!"

"Panpour, I need you!"

"Let the battle begin!" announced the commentator, and the battle roared into action.

"On that note, I also have to say that both White and Cheren are strong and skilful Trainers," admitted N. Zorua smiled slightly. "But they got that way due to sending their Pokémon into harsh battles. It's not right."

"_And for a moment there I thought I'd actually gotten through to you," _mumbled Zorua, lying down on N's lap and resting his head on his paws.

"Tranquill, use Air Cutter!"

"Dodge it, Panpour, then strike it down from the air with Water Gun!"

Tranquill got hit with a powerful Water Gun and fell to the ground, though to Panpour's expense, as the Pokémon got hit with the Air Cutter while in the process of attacking Tranquill.

"Dammit, there goes our fly and avoid strategy…" grumbled White, as Tranquill's feathers were now too wet to allow him to fly. "Okay, use Gust."

"Panpour, use Lick!"

"Harder, Tranquill, blow it away!"

Panpour didn't manage to get anywhere near Tranquill as the Bird Pokémon's Gust was way too strong. In the process of using Gust, Tranquil had also dried up its wings enough to take to the skies again. White smirked satisfactorily.

"Okay, Tranquill, fly up again, then finish it with Air Cutter!"

"Dodge, Panpour, then use Scald!"

Panpour just managed to leap out of the way and send a stream of boiling hot water at Tranquill, who swiftly dodged it. White smirked satisfactorily before issuing her next command.

"Alright, use Gust to blow it into the wall!" she ordered. Tranquill nodded before blowing gusts of wind out of its wings and sending Panpour straight into the stone wall surrounding the arena, knocking it out.

"And the winner of the battle is White!"

"Great Job, Tranquill!" called White, running up and hugging her Pokémon before returning it to its Pokéball. "Told you I'd win, Cheren!"

"Well, you had me stumped," shrugged Cheren.

"Heck yeah I did!" cheered White.

-.-.-

"So, if Bianca won her battle, then who won your battles?" White asked Maya and Iris.

"I won mine," said Maya. "My Petilil was up against a Blitzle, and it was a pretty easy battle."

"Damn Ice-types," grumbled Iris, glaring at the ground. "Stupid Vanillite knocked out my Axew…"

"So you lost…" said Cheren. Iris nodded slowly, though she refused to look up at them.

"Well, we should go out to celebrate!" suggested White, pointing to a small, pink stand on the picture of the magazine she was holding. "Casteliacones, they're meant to be amazing! Besides, Cheren, Bianca and I haven't spent a night together in awhile and we've never actually been out with you three."

"Yeah, sounds good," agreed Cheren. "But you don't care about the night out, just the ice-cream." White sweatdropped and began mumbling to herself while the six stood up and left.

"So, where're you from, Iris?" asked White as they walked through the slowly darkening streets of Castelia City.

"I'm from the Village of Dragons!" she proclaimed proudly. White raised an eyebrow curiously.

"I've never exactly heard of the Village of Dragons, so explain, please," she said, urging Iris to continue.

"Well, there's not much to tell, really," admitted Iris. "It's pretty remote, and there's not much there that's too impressive, other than maybe the huge statues of Zekrom and Reshiram there." White's eyes lit up when she heard the names.

"Z-Zekrom and Reshiram?" she asked. Iris turned her head to the side and nodded.

"Yeah, any significance to you?" she asked curiously. White remembered that time with N in Nacrene City…

_-Flashback!-_

_"Right now, my friends aren't strong enough to save all Pokémon…" said N. "Maybe I can't solve the equation that changed the world… So, I need power. Power strong enough to make anyone believe me…" N began to walk away. "Now I know the power I need, Zekrom!"_

_"Zekrom?" questioned White, turning her head to the side and crossing her arms._

_"The legendary black dragon that, along with a hero, created the Unova region. It's my turn to be that hero, and you and I shall be friends…"_

_-End of flashback-_

"Zekrom…" muttered White. She then remembered Iris was still urging her to answer the question. "Uh, no, no significance… I must have just heard the name before… I guess I'm just curious, that's all."

"Okay," said Iris. "Anyway, the whole village practically worships the two dragons and we all believe the story about Zekrom and Reshiram, the two legendary dragons that supposedly helped create the Unova region, and the two heroes of Unova that assisted them, but I won't tell you it now. It's a long story."

White suddenly remembered something. The dream she'd had, the two dragons had to be Zekrom and Reshiram. Ghetsis had also mentioned it a few days before, about how he was looking for Zekrom, the black dragon and the being of ideals. The dragons in her dream, as far as she could remember, were a black dragon and a white dragon. And there was the other one. The one that ceased the fighting between the two. The grey dragon... "Hey Iris, are there only two dragons?"

"By that you mean…?" said Iris, seeming a little confused by White's attitude to the subject.

"Well, I mean, is there a… a third dragon?" asked White. Iris gulped a little.

"There is, but we don't speak of it," she said. "It's a horrible tale and we don't like to tell it to people, especially in the open like this."

"Okay," sighed White. She remembered seeing a third dragon cease the fighting in her dream a few nights before, and she was hoping Iris would tell her what it was. However, she now knew what the two dragons were in her dream, and what they were called. Zekrom and Reshiram… why was she dreaming about them? What significance did they have to her?

"Anyway, the Village of Dragons sounds pretty interesting. Did you live there your whole life?" White continued, shaking the thought out of her head. She didn't want to think about it. Part of her was telling her that she had nothing to do with the dragons, but the other part was telling her she did. That part didn't seem human, nor did it seem to be a permanent part of herself. It was almost like someone, or something, was invading her head, and for some reason she couldn't stop that part from making her think.

"Up until a few years ago, before I left and Drayden, the Gym Leader of Opelucid City took me in," she explained. "I wanted to travel Unova, so I left the Village of Dragons along with Axew, my partner, who I met in my old village."

"That's cool," said White, before looking around to see the Casteliacones vender. She was slightly relieved to have to excuse to pause the conversation with Iris, as it was only making more questions pop into her head, causing her to become more confused. Her eyes lit up and she rushed up to the stand and ordered herself an ice-cream. Everyone else did the same afterwards, though none seemed as eager as White.

"Honestly, we're not sure what it is with White and ice-cream," muttered Cheren. "She just loves it to bits and she's always been like it. I remember before we set out on our journey she always said how much she wanted to try a Casteliacone."

"Yeah, don't expect her to sleep much tonight," laughed Bianca.

"You're the one who has to sleep in the same room as her," smirked Iris. Bianca's eyes widened.

"Well, fudge."

-.-.-

However, that night White wasn't a restless sleeper. In fact, she was the exact opposite, for the dream she'd had on the night before she began her journey was going through her head all night, the person she now knew as N being crowned by Ghetsis. This eventually changed to the dream with the two dragons with their assumed "heroes" standing next to them. This time, it was different, though. The people looked different, and she got a clear shape of their silhouettes. One was a tall boy with long, shaggy hair tied back in a ponytail. The other was a girl with long, curly brown hair tied back in a high ponytail and wearing a baseball cap.

She woke with a start the next morning and held her head, which was aching like mad. She shook it, trying to remember what the dream was about, what the people looked like, who they were, but she found it hard to as thinking about it made her sick to her stomach for some reason. And no matter how much she tried, she couldn't remember.

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**Misa: Well, there you go. Now, new questions arise… Who will win the tournament? What is the third dragon and what significance does it have? Who were the people in the dream and why can't White remember them? Why am I asking so many questions? Um, yeah, stay tuned to find out, though no one will ever find out the last one… anyways, don't forget to review and I'll see you guys next time!**


	12. Hidden Talents

**Pokémon Black and White**

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**Misa: Hey, guys! Welcome back to Pokémon Black and White. This chapter's a little shorter than last, but quite a bit happens all the same, including White finally finding a talent!**

**White: What do you mean finally?**

**Misa: Well, you've never really had a talent… a set in stone one, anyway. Cheren and Bianca both have talents.**

**Cheren: Yeah, like the fact that I'm ridiculously smart, so I guess my talent is maths.**

**Misa: See?**

**White: And Bianca…?**

**Misa: Screwing things up and being clumsy. That counts as a talent, right? Anyway, White's giving me the death stare, so I'm just going to go right ahead and do the disclaimer to I can actually live past my current age of fourteen… so, I don't own Pokémon! Oh, and enjoy.**

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White tapped her chin lightly with the pen wedged between her two fingers, thinking hard about the previous night. She'd just awakened from her sleep, and it was only 6 o'clock in the morning. The dream, why did it hurt so much to think about? Her head still pounded when she did try to think about it, and all of the memories were slowly being sucked from her brain.

She picked up a small, brown notepad which she'd kept in her bag for her entire journey. Her mother had given it to her saying she could keep records of her journey in it. Naturally, White had never been bothered to do so, so she had instead kept it lying in her bag for the past few weeks, debating on whether she should throw it out or not. She really didn't see any use for it before now, though she figured her mother would partially murder her if she threw it out, so for her own sanity's sake, she'd kept it.

And boy was she glad she had, as she needed a way of recording the dreams she'd been having before she forgot them. The first one she'd had wasn't a problem, as she'd been thinking about it too much anyway, and when she met N and Ghetsis, the dream was always brought back into her mind even if it was only for a second or so, it was still there, taunting her into annoyance. The second dream, however, was a different matter. The memory of it seemed to be slowly dripping away, and even as she scribbled what she could remember of it down on the paper as fast as possible, the memory was slowly becoming nothing but a blurred vision.

And the eye, the one she'd seen when she'd touched the stone in the museum. When she'd finished writing down the dream about the dragons and the heroes, she found herself absentmindedly drawing a picture of the stone. White had been told it was only an insignificant stone, but it seemed to connect with her. Something was inside it. Maybe the stone itself was just a stone, but what was inside it wasn't. What was inside it was alive and breathing, and it had a connection with her.

After drawing the stone, she ended up drawing a few more pictures. They were scribbled, down in pen, and ridiculously messy, but they had a certain charm to them. White smiled to herself as she drew. She'd never really thought about her own hobby, and it seemed that at that point, she'd finally found it after searching for over fifteen years.

When she was finished, she stepped back to admire her work. The stone, which wasn't all that hard to draw, though the smoothness of it was hard to get right. Herself and Oshawott standing before Route 1 at the start of their journey. Bianca and Cheren, her two best friends. Even now, she found herself questioning why they were still friends with her, as she'd nearly gotten them killed numerous times. N, and the Purrloin he'd recently owned. Even on paper he had a mysterious aura to him waiting to become uncovered, though for the first time she'd noticed he had a slight soft side to him. The last picture was more for her own comedic relief than anything else; a drawing of Ghetsis in Accumula town, giving his speech, and White and Cheren in the crowd, retorting his every word.

She flicked through the book, grinning again at her work, admiring every little detail. Though there was one that failed to stand out until now, and a rather major detail at that, which made her confused as to why she hadn't noticed it. On the pictures of N, of him in the crowd at Accumula town and of him and his Purrloin, all of them had something that White hadn't even noticed she'd added.

On the two drawings, atop of his head sat a crown.

White's eyes widened. She could have sworn she hadn't drawn a crown on his head. No, she was absolutely positive. It had appeared entirely on its own accord. She raised and eyebrow and touched it with a shaking finger, stroking the delicately drawn lines that were now resting on the paper, and drew her hand back when she realised it was drawn in pencil, as when she stroked it, it had smudged across the paper, though not in ink. Instead, it had smudged in the very fine powder that is found when you crush up pencil lead. She had been using a pen, so she was now positive it hadn't been her own hand that had drawn it. So who…?

"Wow! Did you draw that, White?"

White had been so transfixed with her own (and someone else's) drawings that she hadn't noticed the heavy footsteps coming up behind her. She jumped back in shock, dropping the notebook on the ground and turned around quickly to see Bianca standing behind her, looking over her shoulder. The blonde smiled, bending down and picking up the book.

"Here," she said, handing it to White, who nodded curtly before opening the book once again. The crown was still there, so she hadn't been imagining it. What's more, the smudge was gone, leaving the clean, delicate pencil line that had been there from the start.

"Y-you can look," stammered White, thrusting the book at Bianca, who beamed at her and took it thankfully, immediately beginning to flick through it. Her eyes seemed to become more gobsmacked through every flick of a page.

"I never knew you could draw!" she chirped.

"Neither did I…" muttered White. She found her head hurting again, the dull throb returning. When she pictured the image in her head, the one of N, she tried to picture the original image, without the crown, but she couldn't. It was almost like the image was wiped from memory entirely, which was ironic as the idea of the book was that she wouldn't forget these things. Though, she hadn't entirely forgotten the image, she could still think of it, just it had to be with the crown.

"Something's weird about N…" mumbled Bianca, tapping her chin. "I can't quite put my finger on it…"

White sighed with relief. She was glad to know it wasn't just her seeing the crown. Though it was obviously there, Bianca had always been slow to pick up these things.

"What, like the crown?" she said, making sure to get rid of any lingering doubts sticking in her head. Bringing back the doubts, however, Bianca turned her head to the side confusedly and raised an eyebrow.

"What crown?" she asked. White's face fell. So it was just her. "No, I was talking about the weird aura that you get even if it's just a drawing."

Oh, well, at least _that_ part wasn't just her.

"I'll take that back, now," said White, pulling the book from her friend's grasp and clenching it tightly in her hands, almost crushing it. She was beginning to wish she'd never even though about writing down her problems. It had only led to more confusion and trouble.

"Okey dokie!" sang Bianca. "Well, I'm going out to train for the final rounds of the tournament. See you in a bit!"

"Yeah, bye…" grumbled White. The tournament… she'd almost forgotten about it since the previous day. So much had gone through her head that that insignificant little detail had just slipped her mind. Training… that could wait. For now, she had more pressing things to worry about. Opening the book to the page with N's drawing, she pulled an eraser out of her bag. If the crown was drawn in pencil, then it should be able to be rubbed out.

Naturally, she was wrong, at first, she'd thought it had worked, as the lined disappeared as the eraser traced over them, but once the last line was erased, the crown was drawn back on again. White sighed, knowing that it wouldn't have worked all along, but she had to try. Dropping the pen, eraser and book back into her bag, she stood up and pulled out her Pokéballs. Maybe training would take her mind off things like this. Besides, she had a tournament to win.

-.-.-

White grinned at her opponent who stood before her on the other end of the battlefield. The blonde girl she'd been friends with all her life was now one of the two things left standing in the way of her victory.

"Send out your Pokémon on three… two… one!"

"Dewott, you're up!"

"Go, Herdier!"

White chuckled lightly when she saw Bianca clumsily throw her Pokéball, almost falling over as she'd thrown it at full force. She really hadn't changed a bit since they were kids, and keeping to that theme, nor had White. She had always beaten them, as far as she could remember, and it wasn't going to change now.

"Begin!" called the commentator.

"Dewott, start it off with Razor Shell!" Dewott pulled her two shells off of her legs and held them like swords, ready to slash out at its opponent. Leaping into the air, it almost landed a clean hit, though Bianca had ordered a dodge just in time.

"Good, Herdier, use Take Down!" commanded Bianca.

"Keep 'em on their feet, Dewott! Use Water Gun!" Dewott leaped into the air, causing Herdier to crash down on the ground, before sending a swift jet of water at Herdier.

"Dodge, Herdier!" Herdier narrowly dodged the attack, leaping to the side, causing a large mud puddle to appear on the dirt where the Water Gun had hit. "Now, use Bite!"

"Dewott!" shrieked White, as Herdier crunched down on Dewott's flesh, though she shook it off like it was nothing before sending another jet of water at Herdier's way, and this time it was a clean hit.

"We can take more than that, Herdier!" called Bianca confidently. Herdier barked in response, baring its teeth at Dewott. Bianca punched the air happily. "Okay, now, use Tackle!"

"Use Water Gun again, Dewott!" Again, Herdier was hit with the attack, though this time it was hit right in the eyes, temporarily blinding it. "Great, now use Razor Shell!"

Herdier took the hit and crashed into the wall, though it stood back up again and shook itself off, though it seemed to be getting weaker by the second.

"Herdier, Odour Sleuth!" Herdier's nostrils flared and it picked up Dewott's scent. "Great, now use Take Down!"

Dewott, caught off guard, was hit with a forceful Take Down, crashing it to the ground.

"Well crap…" muttered White. "Okay, use Water Gun!"

Again and again, Herdier dodged out of the way of the Water Gun attacks, making the ground ridiculously muddy. White, who was beginning to get frustrated, suddenly got an idea.

"Keep using Water Gun on the ground, Dewott!" she called. Dewott, Herdier and Bianca all looked relatively confused, but the Water-type followed her Trainer's command and began shooting water at the ground.

"Finish it, Herdier!" commanded Bianca. "Use Take Down!"

Herdier charged across the muddy ground, though when he meant to jump in order to attack the still airborne Dewott, it lost its footing and slipped, crashing into the wall.

"Great! Now, use Razor Shell, Dewott!"

And then, the battle was over. White punched the air in victory along with Dewott, who held up her shell and cried out happily.

"The second finalist of the Castelia Battle Tournament!" called the commentator. "White will be facing off against Maya in the final round!"

White grinned to herself, holding up her Pokéball and returning Dewott to it. She'd decided she'd be using Dewott in the finals, too, as she was clearly her strongest.

-.-.-

An hour later or so, White had finished training with her Dewott, and she was ready as she'd ever be. She sat down under a tree in the park at the end of Castelia and pulled out her notebook and pen. She then began flicking through the pages of the book, double checking if the crown was still there. For most of the day, she'd been trying to convince herself that she was just imagining things, even though she knew she wasn't imagining it. The crown was definitely there, though, no matter how much she tried to forget about it.

Sighing slightly, she stood up and looked up the tree. She wanted a place to think, where she wouldn't be disturbed. She could go back to her room at the Pokémon Center, but she'd more than likely get interrupted by Bianca. The park she was sitting in was relatively quiet, and she stared up the tree she was sitting under. She smiled to herself and swung her bag over her shoulder before gripping onto a slightly lower branch and pulling herself up. She climbed almost to the top of the tree before settling on a wider branch with her back rested up against the tree trunk.

"This'll do…" she muttered, pulling the book back out of her bag and opening it again. She looked down at the park and remembered the night she'd been lost in Castelia, when she'd seen Team Plasma planning their attack on the city. Turns out, it wasn't much of an attack. All they'd managed to pull off was stealing Bianca's Munna, which they got back easily. She pulled out her pen and did a quick sketch of the park and the Team Plasma members. If she needed to know something, she'd be able to look back on this picture to remember better.

White sat in the tree for another half-hour or so before scaling back down it. In the process, her hand slipped on a branch and she dropped the book, which hit the ground with a _thud._ Cursing silently to herself, she climbed a little more carefully. When she reached the ground, she saw none other than N looking through her book.

"Stalker!" she growled, snatching the book away from him. N looked over at her with a blank expression. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to watch the tournament," he said simply. "I must admit, I didn't expect a book to fall out of the sky. Neither did I expect it to be yours. I am rather honoured that you drew the crown on me, though."

White rolled her eyes. "I didn't draw the crown…" She paused for a second, her eyes widening slightly. "Hang on, you can see the crown?"

"Well, yes," said N, looking oddly confused. "Though it's a little strange you would draw the crown in pencil while everything else is in pen."

"So you can see the crown…" White mumbled. "I knew I wasn't crazy!" She jumped into the air victoriously. "I mean, no one else could see the crown but me, so I thought I was imagining things. But now _you're _here and you can see it, therefore it is actually there! I mean, I guess you're not really the sanest person, but _still_, you can see the…!"

"What's this about you not being crazy?" N sweatdropped before turning around and walking off. "Oh, and White, good luck in the finals."

"Thanks!" chirped White, though N was pretty sure she didn't have a clue what he'd actually said as she was still basking in the glory of the fact that she was apparently no longer insane.

-.-.-

The commentator announced for the Trainers to send out their Pokémon, and Maya and White did exactly as told.

"Dewott, you're up!"

"Let's win this, Sewaddle!"

"Begin!"

"Let's get this over with before it's even started!" called Maya. "Sewaddle, use String Shot, don't even let Dewott move!"

Dewott was fastened to the ground with piles of sticky string. White groaned, before ordering her first command.

"Dewott, Razor Shell to cut the string!" she ordered. Dewott nodded before slashing the string into tiny pieces with its shells. "Great, now use Tackle!"

"Razor Leaf, Sewaddle!"

"Duck and dodge, Dewott!" Dewott dodged out of the way of the Razor Leaf, before landing on the ground smoothly and glaring at its opponent. "Great, now use Razor Shell!"

"Counter with Bug Bite!"

The two attacks collided in midair, causing both Pokémon to be pushed back, though they both landed on their feet and seemed ready to go on. White noticed that this battle was a lot less strategic than the one between her and Bianca and much more brute force. Not that that mattered, as long as someone won, it didn't matter how the battle ended.

"Razor Shell, Dewott!"

Dewott leaped into the air and forced itself down on Sewaddle at full speed, causing the small bug-Pokémon to flinch a little. However, Maya seemed to be ready with a backup plan.

"Catch it in the air with String Shot, Sewaddle!" she commanded, and the Pokémon did as told and shot more sticky string at Dewott, who was caught by surprise and wrapped up in the string. Unlike last time, however, she was completely tied in the silk and couldn't move a muscle, let alone reach for her shells in order to cut it. "Perfect, now, use Razor Leaf, Sewaddle!"

White couldn't do anything but watch as her Pokémon got hit in the face, which was the only place where the string wasn't stuck, with dozens of razor sharp leaves. Dewott fell to the ground and wriggled around, trying desperately to get out of the string.

"Now, Bug Bite, Sewaddle!"

Sewaddle began nipping and gnawing at Dewott, who still couldn't do anything. White needed to think of something, and fast, otherwise the battle would be over within the next few seconds. She though of previous String Shot attacks, such as the one used on her in the forest. White snapped her fingers happily and turned her attention back to the battle. When Sewaddle had tied her arm up with string, it had used Bug Bite to get it off.

"Dewott, roll around a bit!" Dewott, Maya, Sewaddle and pretty much everyone in the crowd looked utterly confused, but Sewaddle didn't seem to care as much, and it just kept biting on Dewott's flesh, not realising that as Dewott rolled around, it was slowly slipping down to the string and beginning to chew it up. After a few seconds, White saw the crucial tear in the hardened string.

"Okay, now use Razor Shell!" she commanded, and Dewott broke out of the shell made of silk and slashed right at Sewaddle, knocking it back a few metres. "Now, Water Gun!"

"Quick, Razor Leaf, Sewaddle!"

Before White knew it, Dewott was getting hit with one last Razor Leaf, and her Pokémon fell to the ground.

"C'mon, Dewott, get up!" she called, and Dewott tried to get up a few times, but to no avail, and ended up falling to the ground with swirls in her eyes.

"Dewott is unable to battle!" announced the commentator. "That means Sewaddle wins, and the victory of the Castelia Battle Tournament goes to Maya!"

The crowd roared, piercing White's ears as she went to pick up Dewott, who was looking very ashamed with herself. White laughed a little and picked her up.

"Hey, you did great," she said, returning her to her Pokéball. "Take a rest. You deserve it."

White then felt something light land on her shoulder and turned around to see Sewaddle looking up at her. White laughed and patted the Pokémon on the head as Maya walked up to her.

"We won, Sewaddle!" she said happily, grabbing her Pokémon off of White's shoulder and hugging her. "Hey, great battle, White!"

"Same for you," laughed White, nodding. "Seriously, I had fun. I guess I'm pretty deserving of a loss, since this is my first one."

"First time for everything," chirped Maya. White waved to her as she walked off the battlefield and to the battlers' stands to watch Maya collect her prize. The trophy was bigger than she'd expected, and she didn't even know about the Poffins until now.

"Well, she's a Breeder, I guess she deserves them more than me," she said absentmindedly to herself. The commentator announced Maya's victory again and White clapped and cheered along with the rest of the crowd.

-.-.-

That night, White sat on her bed, wide awake. She had her notebook in front of her and was drawing a picture of Maya and Sewaddle, standing on the stage in front of the crowd holding the champion's trophy. Once done, White sighed and put the book away before lying back under her covers. She'd lost to Maya, but she wasn't going to lose again. She couldn't _afford _to lose again, for tomorrow she had a battle with Burgh coming up, and she was determined to redeem herself.

-.-.-

"_She's getting there, isn't she…"_

N looked down at Zorua confusedly. The black fox Pokémon twitched its ear before continuing.

"_She's getting closer."_ N still looked utterly confused, and Zorua would have smacked his forehead if he had a hand to do so with. "_She's getting closer to discovering it."_

"Discovering what?" asked N. Zorua groaned impatiently before shaking his head at his Trainer's dense attitude towards the situation.

"_You know… it!"_

"Well, "It" could be many things," said N simply. Zorua sweatdropped, getting a little frustrated at his Trainer's attitude towards the obvious problem.

"_You know what I mean, N,"_ sighed Zorua. "_You and I both. You saw the drawings she did. You saw the crown. She said she was happy because she thought she was crazy because no one else could see it. Then she said she didn't draw it herself."_

"Well, someone could have stolen her book."

"_Ugh! Stop trying to deny it! She's not ordinary, N! And she'll find out your secret soon enough! You need to be more serious about these things. Something's trying to tell her who you are. Something is messaging her, tapping into her brain! And we both know what it is!"_

"I need more proof, but I do know what you mean," sighed N. "But I didn't realise we'd find her so soon. I thought I'd find her a little later."

"_But you couldn't prove that. You knew someone was going to come along eventually, you didn't know when, so you just have to prepare!"_

"Maybe I should just tell her," said N simply. Zorua jumped back a little.

"_What the hell? She already hates you enough!" _N shot Zorua a confused glance. "_Err, no offence, but it's true. You can't just tell her. It doesn't work like that!"_

"I guess you're right…" muttered N, before turning to leave for the desert outside Castelia City. Zorua followed, feeling slightly relieved he'd finally gotten his point across. He shook his head and muttered,

"_Aren't I always_?"

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**Misa: Done! Oh, and by the way, I'm currently working on a second fanfic, the first chapter I've just recently posted, so I'll be slightly more busy than normal, though I probably won't update any less often for that reason, as I've been working on other fanfictions for awhile now without much trouble. Also, school starts again on Wednesday (*Sigh*) so I may not update as much as I would in the holidays for that sole reason. Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter and make sure to review!**


	13. Memories of Childhood

**Pokémon: Black and White**

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**Misa: How's it going guys? I'm back with another chapter of Pokémon Black and White. Honestly I originally had no clue what to write for this chapter, but when it came out I was quite happy with it, even though some parts depressed me a little…**

**White: So, if they made you sad then it can't be good at all for me, can it…?**

**Misa: Ah, nope, anyway, you can do the disclaimer since you're here!**

**White: Why can't you do it?**

**Misa: Because I do it every week, so go on, hurry it up.**

**White: *Grumbles* Misa doesn't own Pokémon.**

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"_Father!"_

_A young boy, only of six or seven years of age with green hair tied back into a ponytail down his back ran excitedly up to a man with similarly coloured green hair wearing a long robe. The man turned around to the child, raising a questioning, yet somewhat threatening eyebrow. The boy laughed a little and jumped up and down._

"_Father, you said you'd spend some time with me today, remember?" said the boy grinning excitedly at his father, who stared down at him and glared a little. After a few silent seconds, the man shook his head and looked down, seeming a little irritated by the boy's presence._

"_I never said such a thing," he growled, turning around and beginning to walk away, though the boy ran ahead of him and stopped him, not willing to give up so easily._

"_But you promised!" he whined. The man shook his head and pushed the boy out of the way firmly._

"_I have work to do, Harmonia," he said, a little more urgently this time. "Go play with your little Pokémon friends."_

"_But Zorua, Darmanitan and Woobat have gone out by themselves…" muttered Harmonia, his voice cracking a little and tears welling up in his large green eyes, though the man disregarded this comment completely and kept walking. "Fine, I'll go and play with Anthea and Concordia!"_

_Harmonia turned around, sniffing and trying to hold back tears. He wasn't sure what he'd done wrong. His father was never that nice to him, and the only conversation he managed to get out was always about Pokémon and how Trainer's misguide them. Harmonia didn't really understand too well, as he'd never seen a Trainer himself, though from what he'd heard, Trainers were horrible people who pushed Pokémon around to do their bidding. Due to this, Harmonia didn't want to be a Trainer like most boys his age wanted to be when he grew up, though when his father talked about Pokémon liberation, he didn't really understand what he was talking about. But his father had said it, and what his father said was usually right._

_He walked through the halls of the castle quickly as he could, though not too fast. The castle caretaker would yell at him in a scary voice when he ran in the castle. Even so, Harmonia was walking as fast as he could, holding back the urge to sprint at full speed into Anthea and Concordia's rooms. He reached their door and knocked twice. Once he had done so, a girl with blonde hair who looked around ten years old opened the door and grinned at him. Harmonia smiled back. Though he was three years younger than her, he was catching up to her in height. Harmonia had always been tall for his age._

"_Hello, Harmonia," said the girl calmly. "What brings you here?"_

"_Father didn't want to play, so I came here instead," chirped Harmonia, grinning again at the first of his two foster sisters. "I thought you and Anthy would like to keep me company so I don't get lonely." Concordia's face fell and she looked at the ground sadly._

"_Sorry, Harmonia, but father tells us we cannot spend time together unless you need help," she muttered, still staring at the ground. "It's out job, after all. We are your caretakers."_

"_Okay, well, I'll just go find Zorua then," chirped Harmonia, though he seemed to be forcing his voice to sound happy. "Bye, Concordia!"_

_He turned around and Concordia closed the door behind him. He then looked around the castle curiously, searching for his black fox friend._

"_Zorua?" he called. His voice echoed through the castle, bouncing off of the walls. Harmonia hoped his voice would reach his Pokémon, though there was no reply. He huffed loudly; dropping his shoulders and walking slowly back to his room. He felt lonely. He was always lonely. Maybe it was because his father had told him that he was destined to be a king when he got older, and he began to wonder what other kids his age were doing right now. Were they as lonely as him, or were they the opposite?_

-.-.-

N woke to the sun glaring through his window, reflecting off of the shiny, polished walls that surrounded him. He yawned at little, before standing up groggily and looking around. He hadn't been back to his castle in awhile, and since stepping foot in it he was bombarded with memories of his youth, when his first couple of years living in the castle took place. Back then, he hadn't understood Ghetsis' goals, but now he followed them completely. He didn't question them anymore, and he wasn't allowed to, anyway.

"Oh, you're awake, my lord N."

N turned around to see Anthea walking into the room carrying a tray, her pink hair dancing behind her playfully as she walked over to him. Anthea and Concordia were his foster sisters, who were also adopted by Ghetsis, though the two girls were there to serve N. Anthea and Concordia were some of the only humans he cared for. They'd been with him since he was a child, and were always nice to him, though they never interacted with him much; they were never exactly mean to him, or Pokémon, for that matter. He knew and respected that.

"Good morning," yawned N. Anthea smiled, setting the tray down on his bedside table before walking out of the room. N picked up the tray to see various berries and fruits sitting on it. He smiled, popping a berry into his mouth. After doing so, he heard a thud from underneath his bed and looked down to see Zorua lying under the bed, holding his head in his paws. The Pokémon groaned, jumping out from under the bed and onto N's lap.

"_Why is the bed frame so hard?" _he whined, flicking a berry into his mouth with his tongue and beginning to chew. "_Can't they make it out of something softer, like, I don't know, _not _wood?"_

"Well, you should just be more careful sitting up in the morning, shouldn't you?" chuckled N, rubbing Zorua behind the ears. The fox growled quietly, before shaking his head and beginning to eat the berries N was now handing to him.

"_Well, I was half asleep,"_ he scowled, shaking his head slightly. "_What are we doing today, anyway?"_

N shrugged. "Not sure, I have to wait for Ghetsis to come up with something first."

"_Can't he give you freedom of speech?"_ sighed Zorua. "_You are your own person, after all. You should be able to choose your own activities once in awhile."_

"Ghetsis knows what is best," replied N, placing the tray back on his bedside table and standing up slowly. Zorua wasn't expecting this, and slipped off of N's lap and landed with a small _thud _on the floor. N didn't seem to consider his friend, and just kept walking.

"_Dammit, watch it!"_ Zorua snapped, shaking himself off and trotting up behind N, following him out of the room. Once out, they saw Gorm, one of the Seven Sages, who was walking around outside of the room. Once he saw N, he hesitated a little before bowing down and kneeling on one knee to address N.

"My lord," he said quietly. N raised an eyebrow and shrugged before walking off.

"Hello, Gorm," he sighed. He had put up with all this special treatment his whole life, and while sometimes it wasn't such a bad thing, sometimes he did wish he could do things on his own, just like Zorua had questioned, though he would never admit it.

As he walked, his steps patting the shiny, marble floor sending loud echoes throughout the castle, he found his mind trailing to White, though he didn't realise this as it was rather absentmindedly. She was a normal child; he was pretty sure, anyway. Well, he was beginning to think she wasn't as normal as she seemed, and Zorua seemed to have found out much before he would have liked. Basically, no matter what was going on inside her head, she'd had a normal childhood, grown up in a normal house with a normal family based around normal things.

Then again, what _was _normal? N guessed it would be whatever happens most often, and he was pretty sure being in a state of royalty since childhood wasn't exactly considered normal for most people. He found his mind drifting back to White once more. Maybe he would be able to ask her what her childhood was like as some point. Though White was headstrong and relatively reckless, he felt he could act almost normal around her. He even knew she could be the biggest threat they'd ever face, but he found himself feeling more curious than anything. Of course, if Ghetsis knew this, he probably wouldn't live to tell the tale.

That said, White definitely had something to her. For one thing, her Pokémon seemed to like her, and N had grown up thinking no Trainer was nice to their Pokémon. White was the first person to own a Pokémon that seemed to think highly of her, and actually told him that she treated them well. Even then, White was a strong, strategic Trainer, and would pose a threat if he let her be. Yes, she was a threat to their plan, and nothing more than that. She was an enemy, and he needed to stop thinking differently.

The thing was, he wanted to hate White, hate her more than anything, but he couldn't bring himself too. He definitely didn't like her that much either, though he definitely found her interesting in the least. From what he'd seen since he'd met her, she was relatively mean to him, even calling him a stalker numerous times, so that was probably the thing stopping him from actually liking her. Plus, he could never be friends with a human, especially her. He knew she probably mistreated her Pokémon in some way, he just hadn't seen it yet.

Yes, that's right, she did mistreat her Pokémon, just not when he was around, because every Trainer mistreats their Pokémon, right? N mentally slapped himself in the face for even questioning it. Since he met White, he'd actually begun questioning what was propelling his motives, and he never questioned himself, let alone Ghetsis. He knew, and had known since he was a child, that whatever Ghetsis said was right, and no one could oppose that.

Why did he question it then? It couldn't be just White that was making him do this, which leads back to the fact that White was definitely not normal; though she may have been a little insane. He chuckled at the memory of the previous day, her dancing around blabbering on to herself about how she was no longer crazy while he tried to find an excuse to get away. Aside from that, when he met her he'd been sure she was perfectly normal, but Zorua had convinced him that there was more to the girl, and now he knew there definitely was.

The more he thought about it, the more confused he got, before he finally decided to settle on one thing; that he would defeat White before she could get in the way of their plans.

No, that wouldn't work. She already had gotten in the way, and she was doing a damn good job of it, too. She had beaten him numerous times, though N shook that out of his head when he thought of Zekrom. He would befriend Zekrom, as it was his turn to be the hero of Unova.

_One _of the heroes of Unova. He growled, realising that there was always the second hero, the one that would befriend the second legendary dragon and possibly defeat him. That would be a battle simply consisting of whose ideas were strongest, though that person would always pose as a threat. And if that person was White, well, he wasn't sure what he'd do. The girl had been the only person who he'd considered to be the second hero, and if he considered it, then there was always a possibility. She'd also been the only one who'd tried to keep stopping him. She never had to battle him, but she did, she never refused. She was persistent in her beliefs, and she stood by them no matter what. That persistence could possibly be the downfall of him.

Deep in his thoughts, N suddenly realised he didn't have a clue where he was going. Well, when he brought his mind back to it, he knew where he was, but it wasn't the place he'd been aiming to go. He'd made it to the heart of the tower, the long hallway surrounded by water where his throne sat against the back wall. He'd been aiming to go and see Ghetsis on the bottom floor of the castle, but he'd ignored it and gone straight to the throne room instead.

"My lord N."

N turned around to see Ghetsis standing at the doorway to the room. He jumped a little, before nodding quickly so show he'd acknowledged his presence. Ghetsis smirked slyly, walking up to him and stopping in front of him.

"How have you been doing?" he asked. N hesitated a little before answering.

"I-I've been doing fine," he replied hastily. He thought again on White; their one threat. The one thing that could possibly stop him, unless someone else was the second hero. He considered telling Ghetsis about her, though if that happened Ghetsis would probably eliminate her in the most gruesome way possible, and he didn't want that. "No threats what-so-ever."

Ghetsis nodded firmly, understanding the situation; though unknowing that it wasn't the true situation. "Good, our next target is Nimbasa City. There are many people there, and there is also the Pokémon Musical Theatre, where Pokémon are forced to dance about on stage in fancy outfits. A truly disgusting place."

Nimbasa city… the place with the next Gym Badge. That would probably be where White would be headed next too, once she got her Badge from Castelia City. Chances are, he would probably see White there too. Honestly, he'd been keeping an eye on her, though she'd said he'd been stalking her, it wasn't quite that. Whenever he ran into her it was merely a coincidence. Did coincidences like that happen often, or was the world trying to tell him something?

"Yes, Ghetsis," said N, bowing slightly, before turning around, but before he could walk out of the door, he was stopped by Ghetsis voice, which had changed in attitude since the few seconds before when he'd been talking to him.

"N," he said. N turned around and looked at Ghetsis quizzically. "Don't get distracted, by anything, or _anyone_." N noticed he had emphasized the "anyone", and it made him think that maybe he knew about… about White. Or maybe it wasn't her specifically. Maybe he just knew that someone was going to stop them, or be of an annoyance at least.

When he left the castle that day, he knew he had to do something. He somehow knew he had to tell her. Zorua wasn't going to stop him, but he looked down at the Pokémon who had a look on its face that told N that his Pokémon knew what he was thinking.

"If you really think it's best, then I'm not going to argue," sighed the little black fox Pokémon. "Just make sure you know what you're getting yourself, and her, for that matter, into. Consider the consequences, for both of you."

N nodded, staying silent and walking straight ahead, not looking back at Zorua. He'd made up his mind. Next time he saw White, he was going to tell her. She was special, just like him, he knew that already, and if she was going to end up fighting him, he may as well begin the battle now, before Ghetsis tried to interfere. Because that fight… it had nothing to do with Ghetsis. This was a fight between N and White, and no one was going to help either of them in the end.

-.-.-

"See, Cheren, this is why I'm not looking forward to going to Nimbasa city…" muttered White. The two friends looked over at Bianca, who was standing in the middle of the park, twirling and singing along with her Pokémon, who didn't seem to mind. White turned to the brochure she was holding, which had pretty much everything you could do in Nimbasa City written on it, including the Pokémon Musical Theatre.

"Disgusting, isn't it…" she grumbled, folding her arms and glaring at her blonde friend, who was now singing louder than ever. "Remind me again why we're friends with her?"

Cheren laughed a little. "There were only three kids in Nuvema Town." White smirked a little before nudging him with her elbow playfully, and Cheren noticed the slightly suspicious look on her face and was about to ask what it was about, but the next thing White said answered the question for him.

"Yeah, and I'll bet you're glad you grew up with her, because you really _do _lo-…"

White's sentence was never finished due to two things; Cheren clapping a hand over her mouth, knowing what she was about to say, but not wanting to admit it to himself that she was about to say it, and the second reason being that Bianca had just began spontaneously singing, "I'm singing in the rain!" while twirling around like an idiot. White coughed a little and took Cheren's hand off of her own mouth.

"Dear _Arceus, _Bianca, it's not even raining!" she growled. This, however, went unnoticed by the now ridiculously dizzy Bianca, who was having trouble standing up straight. When she looked like she was about to fall over, Cheren ran up and caught her. White giggled a little at the two.

"Get a room!" she called, before seeing the look on Cheren's face, turning on her heel and running for her own dear life down the road out of the park. Even when she reached the other side of the city, she could still here Cheren's angry yelling coming from behind her.

"I'm going to murder you with a stick!" was what he was yelling, and it seemed to be scaring the rest of the crowd of Castelia.

"Brutal…" muttered White, but she had to begin running again when Cheren managed to catch up with her. "Jeez, since when did he become such an athlete…" she panted, springing off at full speed ahead of her once again. However, she stopped once she reached a certain building. Cheren crashed into her back, apparently not expecting her to stop that suddenly, though he became a little surprised when he saw the darkness in his friend's eyes.

_-Flashback-_

_A seven year old White walked down the stairs to the living room. She'd heard yelling in her room and came down to see what was going on downstairs, and the sight shocked her and would possibly scar her for the rest of her life._

_In the kitchen was where her mother stood, one hand holding and covering her bruised eye, the other stopping the blood from dripping out of her heavily damaged nose. In front of her, White's father stood, still clenching the fist that he had supposedly beaten her mother with. White gasped, which made her parents notice her presence. Her father turned around and growled at her._

"_Get back to her room!" he roared, and White let out a sob before sprinting back up the stairs, skipping every second one in a desperate attempt to get away from it all. From the pain. From her mother's suffering. Her parents had always fought, but never had it actually got violent. Usually it was just swear words from her father and crying from her mother, but White could always avoid that by listening to other things around her, or turning her music up really loud, but she couldn't escape the sights she'd just seen._

_She sat in her room and cried, shaking from fear, thinking that she was coming next. She was the next to be hit, to be slapped, all for the sake of her father's anger. All for the sake of him letting it out, and tomorrow, he would be fine again. He would be the same old father she used to know; fun, loving and caring. This wasn't her father. This was someone else. It had to be._

"_You're not getting near White!"_

_White flinched at her mother's desperate screams, and the next thing she heard was a cry of pain, and a slamming door. White peaked out her window to see her father running out of the town, down Route 1. Mustering up courage, she stepped out of her room, down the steps, and into the living room to see her mother lying on the ground, barely breathing._

"_It's okay White…" she choked. "Daddy's gone. You're safe."_

_Without thinking about anything more, White ran to the phone and dialled 000. Her mother had always taught her about what to do if there was ever an emergency, but since then she'd hoped to Arceus that she'd never have to use that number._

_An hour later or so, a police report was filed, and the ambulance had taken White's mother away, saying she'd be fine. Bianca's parents were shocked when they heard the news, but decided not to tell Bianca. Cheren's parents were also told, but they also didn't tell their son about the incident. It was something they didn't need to know about unless White wanted to tell them._

_Bianca was shocked when a shaking, crying White showed up in her room, but the blonde's happy and bubbly attitude took White's mind off the day almost instantly._

_A week later, White's father was found, divorce papers were signed, and White and her mother were to live on their own. Unfortunately, her father had the right to take most of the money and his belongings, leaving White and her mother with major financial problems. But there would be no more violence. White was happy anyway, because she knew she'd never have to watch the fighting again._

_-End flashback-_

Up until this day, Cheren and Bianca still didn't know what had truly happened to her father, why her mother had all those bruises that day and why she was in hospital was a forgotten thought, but since then White had gotten more and more independent, as she was used to having to help her mother out with things around the house and even do things for her own benefit on her own.

"My dad used to work here…" she muttered absentmindedly. Cheren looked over at her with wide eyes. He then looked back up at the building, before turning his head to the sign that read "Battle Institute".

"This is the place where they help plan tournaments and stuff for the city, right?" said Cheren. White nodded slowly, before lifting her head back up again. She'd seen the place in pictures taken from her dad, and to be up close to it felt odd. Knowing that her crazy father had stepped foot into this building countless times. This, of course, was back when he was a decent father, one that was kind and generally goodhearted. How that changed, White wasn't sure.

"Yeah, that's right," sighed White, stepping back to take one last look at the building.

"It's a shame your dad died," said Cheren quietly. "I'm sure he was a good addition to the staff."

White was sure he was a good addition, too, but he hadn't died, and she now realised that somewhere out there, her dad was still standing. She didn't know how long he'd been sent to jail for, but if he'd been let out, she suddenly felt a little more threatened, like there were more dangers out there than she thought. She wanted to tell Cheren and Bianca what really happened, but the time never really popped up, and now that it had, she was too nervous to say anything.

'_How the hell would I start the conversation, anyway…?' _she thought, smirking at the possibilities. '_Probably something like, "Hey, Cheren, did you know that my father used to bash my mother then he walked out on us and left us in financial debt?".'_

White laughed to herself quietly, thinking about what Cheren would say to that. She thought the time had been right, but once she even thought about telling him, the moment was gone.

"Well, we should get going. I think Bianca's still in the park."

"You left her?" White stared at Cheren. "Why? I thought she was following!"

"Nah," said Cheren casually. "I think she stopped when I yelled "I'm going to murder you with a stick"."

"Are you?" White asked, suddenly feeling a little less safe having the boy standing next to her. Cheren laughed.

"No, moment's gone."

Of course, when the two got back to the park, they were once again greeted with Bianca singing about singing and dancing in the rain.

"She didn't even notice we were gone," said Cheren, sweatdropping. White chuckled.

"Well, I thought she would have," she laughed. "You were letting her use your arms and shoulder as a pillow." Cheren then glared at her and picked up a stick from the ground. White's eyes widened. "Moment's back, isn't it?" Cheren nodded slowly, and White once again began running for her life.

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**Misa: Well, glad that's done. I was originally going to go straight onto White's Gym battle, but I began writing and it somehow turned into an entire chapter about emotionally scarring back stories, so, yeah. By the way, the emergency number is 000 here in Australia, but you can mentally insert whatever the emergency number is for your country if you really have to… Anyway, stay tuned for chapter fourteen and make sure to review!**


	14. Living in the Moment

**Pokémon: Black and White**

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**Misa: 'Sup everyone! Welcome back to Pokémon Black and White! This chapter, White goes into possibly the stupidest designed gym in the game. I mean, they make that honey **_**way**_** too easy to walk through, it's very impractical. Anyway, that's not the point…**

**Cheren: Actually, it is the point. Almost the whole chapter is about the gym.**

**Misa: Shut it, I mean it's not the point of this part. The point of this part is the disclaimer, which you can do now that you've annoyed me.**

**Cheren: Fine, Misaki Amaya doesn't own Pokémon.**

**Misa: Why use my full name? You never use my full name!**

**Cheren: I'm annoyed with you, so I'll call you your full name if I want. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.**

**Misa: Jeez, you get ticked off way too easily…**

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"You've got to be kidding me…"

White stared, awestruck, as she reached a hand out and touched the hexagon-shaped glob of gooey, sticky substance that stood in font of her, supported by the wall which was made to look like honeycomb in a beehive

"If this is Burgh's sense of humour, it's the worst," she grumbled, staring at her finger which was now covered in sticky honey. Disgusted, she wiped her finger on Cheren's shirt, who was standing next to her. The boy shot her a glare, though it seemed to go straight through the now laughing silently girl.

"I honestly don't know what I was expecting," mumbled Cheren, now attempting to rub the honey off of his shirt, though he was only spreading it up his arm and making it look even worse.

"It tastes good, though!" chirped Bianca, licking her finger before going on to dip her finger into the honey once more. White and Cheren sweatdropped simultaneously, staring at her and feeling a little irritated.

"So, you like my puzzle?"

White looked up to see Burgh dropping down on them from above, hanging onto a strip of something that looked like spider web. He grinned down at them, though remained suspended in mid-air and still stayed a good metre or two above the three.

"Hardly…" mumbled White. Burgh didn't seem to notice this, however. White rolled her eyes irritably. "Anyway, how do we actually get through here? The only possible path is through the honey."

"Exactly!" sang Burgh. White's mouth dropped open, but Cheren, almost out of instinct, reached a hand out and pushed her jaw up again so her mouth was closed.

"Close it, you'll catch flies," he said simply. White raised an eyebrow before removing his hand off of her chin and turning to him.

"What's a fly?" she asked. Cheren looked at the ceiling and shrugged.

"Not really sure, I read it in a book somewhere," he muttered. "Something about humans living with these creatures called "animals" or something. Stupid, right? No Pokémon or anything. Anyway, that's not the point."

"Err, anyway…" coughed Burgh. "Yes, to get through this maze, you have to push through the honey to get through to the end. It's a fun little game I made up awhile back when I became Gym Leader. Well, I'll see you at the end!" He then ascended into the air with the silk. White turned to Cheren, a pleading look on her face.

"Cheren…" she whined.

"What?"

"Do I have to?"

"If you want a Gym Badge."

"I'm dreaming, aren't I?"

"I wish."

"Bianca, where's your Munna, maybe it can get me out of this… Bianca?"

"Hey guys, in here!" came a muffled cry from what seemed to be the other side of the honey. White turned around, confused, only to see Bianca's head poking through the sticky slab of honey. The girl was laughing her head off, and her face was covered in the honey. "It's actually not that bad. It feels all gluggy, though…"

"Help me…" squeaked White, as Bianca's sticky hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her through the honey and onto the other side. White held her breath as her face oozed through the substance, clogging up her nose and sticking her eyelids together so that when she got to the other side and tried to open them, it took her around two seconds to do so, and that was only because she managed to pry them open with her fingers.

"See, wasn't that fun!" chirped Bianca, running off to the next honey slab and giggling madly.

"The trouble I'll go through for a stupid Gym Badge…" grumbled White, before Cheren pushed through the honey and landed beside her. I say landed because his foot managed to get stuck in the honey and he fell flat on his face. This was enough to lighten the mood for White, who promptly burst out laughing. Cheren looked up at her helplessly.

"Get up on your own, Snorlax," she laughed, before skipping off to meet Bianca at the next honey slab.

Around half an hour later, the three finally made it to the end of the maze, though they looked quite ridiculous. White's bushy ponytail now didn't really look like hair at all; just a golden glob hanging off the back of her head that looked like one big mass rather than tens of thousands of tiny strands. Cheren was stumbling around hopelessly as his glasses were covered in honey, (though White never suggested taking them off as she found it too funny) and Bianca was eagerly licking the sweetness off of her hand like a Purrloin grooming herself.

"Well, that was fun was it not?" sang Burgh happily.

"I'll go with not," grumbled White. "Whatever, can we just battle?"

"Oh, battle, right!" said Burgh hastily. At the back of the maze where the three Trainers were standing, there was a large battlefield. On the squares at either end of the field where the Trainer and Gym Leader would usually stand, there were two footprints on each made of honey, and White felt somewhat relieved that other Trainers had made it there alive and that she, Cheren and Bianca weren't the only ones.

The two stood at either side of the field, White now having forgotten about the honey dripping off of her and instead focusing all of her attention on the battle ahead of her, fire clouding her steely blue eyes. This, however, was extinguished when a clown jumped out of nowhere and landed next to Burgh, who grinned happily. White's mouth once again dropped open when Burgh told her that the clown would be the referee for that battle. She turned to Cheren, who was chuckling lightly at her while sitting next to Bianca on the stands.

"Liar, Cheren, I am dreaming!" she called, before turning her attention back to the battle. The clown stood on the side of the battlefield and held up a black and white chequered flag.

"This will be a three on three battle. The first battler to lose all of their Pokémon loses. Only the challenger will be able to make substitutions," he explained. "Okay, the battle will begin… now!" He swiped the flag through the air and the two Trainers threw their Pokéballs simultaneously.

"Lillipup, stand guard!" called White.

"Whirlipede, start us off!"

White groaned, remembering the last time she'd faced a Whirlipede with her Lillipup. Hopefully this time it would be easier having done it before. The personality comparison between the Pokémon was ridiculous. Lillipup was running around in circles, chasing her tail and not getting dizzy at all by doing so somehow. Whirlipede, on the other hand, was glaring intensively at Lillipup (Though it was hard to notice due to the Pokémon having eyes on the side of its body.)

"Alright, Lillipup, start us off with Tackle!" commanded White. Lillipup did as told, skidding to a halt from her running in circles before ramming into the Bug-type and knocking it off balance. However, what would normally be a large blow was weakened quite a bit due to Whirlipede's spiny shell around its body and the fact that, rather than falling over completely, the Pokémon just began rolling, but stopped itself after a few metres by sticking one of its spines into the ground. The instant it did so, purple liquid began oozing into the ground.

"Poison…" muttered White. "Alright, Lillipup, use Take Down, but aim for the side and don't touch the spines!"

Lillipup did as told, but as she did so, Whirlipede spun around almost instantly to get in position for Lillipup to hit its shell rather than its flesh. A spine dug into Lillipup, jabbing into her flesh and making the poor Pokémon yelp in pain, though this time the poison didn't leak out of Whirlipede's spine, though it did do quite a bit of damage and give Whirlipede a chance to attack her.

"Okay, Whirlipede, use Poison Tail!" ordered Burgh, and Lillipup was hit with the back spine on Whirlipede and knocked back a few metres, panting heavily. She growled at her opponent, but Burgh just chuckled lightly in response. "Well, you figured out my plan quicker than I intended you to. I was going to use the poison in Whirlipede's spines to poison your Lillipup before it had a chance to hurt us too much. Unfortunately you figured that out when it released poison into the ground, and we can't have that now, can we?"

"Damnit…" grumbled White, crossing her arms and tapping her foot lightly on the ground. She was already covered in honey, but that was nothing compared to having her Pokémon get poisoned. She wanted this gym badge without having to lose a Pokémon's life.

"Don't worry, White," assured Burgh, as if on cue and reading her thoughts. "I have Antidotes in the back room, so if Lillipup does get poisoned then it's not fatal. But for now, I'm going to focus on beating you. Whirlipede, use Poison Tail again!"

"Dodge, Lillipup, then use Take Down!" called White. Lillipup stood up and leaped impressively out of the way of the poison spine charging straight for her, leaving a thin purple stripe in the air for a split second due to the speed of the attack. Whirlipede crashed into the ground, causing dust to explode in its face. This was Lillipup's chance to attack it. The attack hit Whirlipede side-on, causing it to stumble back a few inches. The resilient Pokémon, however, was nowhere near finished with its job.

"Whirlipede, finish this off with Poison Tail!"

The referee waved his flag through the air as Lillipup crashed to the ground with swirls where her eyes used to be, tongue hanging limply out of her mouth, and a small purple line where she'd been hit with the poison.

"Lillipup is unable to battle!" the referee announced. White groaned, pulling out Lillipup's Pokéball and returning her Pokémon, smiling at the Pokéball before putting it back in her bag. She then dug around and pulled out Tranquill's Pokéball.

"I'll need some energy for this," she said to the ball before hurling it into the air. "You're up next, Tranquill!"

"Quill!" cried Tranquill, flapping its winds automatically and sending a gust of wind Swadloon's way, causing it to roll lazily over to its back once more.

"Alright, let's turn this around," called White confidently. "Tranquill, use Air Cutter!"

Due to taking so many hits from Lillipup, Whirlipede was knocked out easily as the result of Tranquill's powerful Air Cutter. Tranquill chirped, flapping its wings in triumph and flying a few victorious laps of the battlefield. White laughed a little at the action.

"Whirlipede is unable to battle!" called the clown referee, holding the flag towards Burgh's side. The Gym Leader returned his Pokémon before pulling out his second Pokéball.

"Alright, Dwebble, you're turn!" he called, and a small crab-like Pokémon with a rock on its back appeared on the field, clicking its claws eagerly. White sighed, recalling Tranquill and sending out Dewott, who stood firmly on the ground once released and grabbed her shells in either hand and slashed them through the air, showing she was ready for battle. White grinned before ordering her first command.

"Dewott, use Razor Shell!" she ordered, and on command Dewott leaped into the air while holding up her shells, which had lengthened into two blue knife-like objects, and slashed at Dwebble, who took a heavy hit, though landed on the ground neatly after being thrown through the air. "Great, Dewott, now use Water Gun!"

"Dodge, Dwebble, then use Smack Down!" ordered Burgh. Dwebble nodded once, jumping out of the way of the freezing jet of water and holding out its claw to knock Dewott out of the way, though the agile Water-type was able to jump out of the way in time. White punched the air happily.

"We're going strong, Dewott!" she called.

"Dew, Dewott!" cried Dewott in response, though not taking her eyes off of her opponent. White grinned.

"Alright, now use Razor Shell once more!" she ordered, though this time Dwebble was able to dodge in time, causing Dewott to strike the ground rather than the opponent and sending a large cloud of dust in her own face. Burgh took this as an opportunity to strike.

"Okay, Smack Down, Dwebble, then use Faint Attack!" Dwebble nodded briskly, before leaping into the air and smashing a claw down on Dewott's head, before disappearing suddenly before Dewott could regain her composure and reappearing right in front of her, tackling her in the face. Dewott looked utterly dazed and confused, though this didn't stop her from following White's next command, which was to use Water Gun. This attack hit a surprised Dwebble and sent it flying into the back wall, knocking it out on the spot.

"Dwebble is unable to battle," called the referee clown.

"Good job, Dwebble," sighed Burgh. "Well, White, you're doing well, but now it's time for that all to change. Leavanny, the centre of my masterpiece, come on out!"

White withdrew Dewott upon hearing Burgh's choice of Pokémon and sent out Tranquill in her place. Leavanny crossed her blade-like arms and stood steadily on the ground, her slender legs not moving an inch. A staring contest went on between the two Pokémon before the silence was broken by Burgh.

"Leavanny, use Razor Leaf, strike down that bird!" he commanded. Leavanny nodded calmly, before leaping into the air and slashing her arms, sending a pool of light green leaves shooting through the air towards Tranquill.

"Use Detect, Tranquill!" Tranquill's eyes glowed blue and, in a sudden burst of speed, the bird managed to dodge all of the leaves shooting towards it. "Good, now blow Leavanny away with Gust!"

"Use Protect, Leavanny!" countered Burgh, and all of the silvery wind being blown at Leavanny split apart around the large green sphere that had now appeared around the Bug and Grass-type. "Now, use Razor Leaf again!"

"Send them right back, Tranquill, use Gust!" Slashing through the air, the two attacks collided, Tranquill's Gust proving to be stronger than the leaves, which stopped in mid-air and limply fell to the ground. "Now, use Air Cutter quickly!" Due to the already-in-use Gust, Air Cutter was sped up and hit Leavanny head-on. However, the Pokémon was resilient, and managed to stand again despite the large blow.

"Use String Shot to knock it out of the air, Leavanny!" ordered Burgh, though there was a hint of panic in his voice. White smirked to herself before ordering her next attack.

"We've seen this before," she laughed. "Tranquill, cut it up to tiny pieces with Air Cutter, then strike with Quick Attack!"

Leavanny, in a state of shock, tried to throw up a Protect in time, but Tranquill's speed was too much for it and it was hit head-on with a powerful Quick Attack and then knocked to the floor, fainted.

"Leavanny is unable to battle!" called the referee. "That means the winner is the challenger, White!"

"Quill!" cooed Tranquill, fluttering down and landing next to its Trainer, who patted it in the head softly.

"Good job," laughed White, returning him to his Pokéball before turning to Burgh, who was now walking up to her holding a badge in his hand. He held it out to her, and she took it gratefully and pulled out her badge case, slotting the shiny new green and gold wing-shaped badge into the fitting slot.

"Well, you certainly had me stumped," he laughed. "You're deserving of that badge."

"Heck yeah we are!" yelled White triumphantly, punching the air with her fist. At that point, a rather hyper Bianca rushed up to her and pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

"Oh my Arceus White I can't believe you just did that! Now I can go for my badge, oh but first we have to battle then I can get stronger and stronger until I can defeat the whole world." A few evil laughs came out of the overexcited blonde's mouth before she began speaking in her jumbled up babble-language. White turned to Cheren and mouthed "help me", but Cheren just snickered. White rolled her eyes and turned to Burgh, trying her best to ignore Bianca, who'd obviously had a little too much honey.

"Any chance we can get a lift with the spider silk?" she asked. Burgh laughed, before clicking his fingers, bringing down the thread of silk that he'd been hanging onto before.

"Quick, before Cheren and Bianca notice, it can only hold one person," whispered Burgh. White nodded thanks before clinging onto the string and feeling herself be hoisted off of the ground. Once a few metres into the air, she looked down to see Cheren yelling at her angrily. He'd have to get back through the honey _and _put up with Bianca.

"Stick murder revenge!" called White, before she disappeared over a honeycomb coloured wall and out of sight.

-.-.-

Few hours later, White was spending her last few hours in Castelia City trying to find a library. What was she looking for in a library? She didn't really know herself. She just had the sudden urge to read something. When she saw the book, she'd know what she was thinking about and what she had in mind, but for now, she just wondered aimlessly around the city, searching for a library that probably didn't exist. She scolded herself for not looking in the library back in Nacrene, but back then she hadn't had the sudden desire.

What was more, White never read books. She'd just never really been a reading sort of person. She liked action, adventure, and things that generally moved. In books, all the action she got was in her imagination, and she couldn't do that _and _read at the same time. Well, when she thought about it, it sounded a lot harder than it actually is, but this is White we're talking about here. So then why did she have this sudden urge to read? She didn't even know what she wanted to read. She worried that maybe something was wrong with her. Was she sick? Maybe just tired. No, when she was sick or tired the last thing she wanted to do was read.

She sighed, walking down one of the streets connected to around the fifth alleyway she'd walked down. Still no sign of a library. There couldn't possibly be only one library in all of Unova. Then again, if you had a choice between reading about travelling the world with your Pokémon and actually travelling the world with your Pokémon, which one would you pick? The only exception to that obvious answer was people like Cheren. If you locked him in a room with a book, a Pokémon and a friend, he'd go straight for the book, no doubt about it.

Finally, after walking for some time, White came across an old, rusty building that looked relatively out of place from the rest of the buildings in the city. She raised an eyebrow, wondering whether or not it was worth it to go in. the place looked creepy, like it hadn't been touched in years, if it had, then it was very rarely. The sign that read "Castelia Library" was barely legible, and letters were chipped off in quite a few places. The walls looked like they were about to collapse any second. After awhile, White nodded to herself and opened the creaky door, being careful not to pull it off its hinges. It creaked loudly, sending shivers down her spine, but she kept going. She'd seen worse things.

As she entered, she realised it was a relatively magnificent sight. The place had in fact been abandoned; or so she assumed, as there wasn't a soul to be seen. Everything was dusty, but there was a certain factor of it all that made it intriguing to the young teenager's eyes, something she couldn't quite put a finger on. Ahead of her were rows upon rows of full bookshelves, most of the books being brown. Slowly, she crept through the library, running a finger across the large arrays of books, hoping that soon she would find the one she sought after. After twenty minutes or so, she'd pretty much read the title of every book she'd come across. Finally, however, she pulled out the one she felt she needed. As she did, the usually undisturbed row of books fell in a domino effect, sending clouds of dust spraying in White's face.

The girl stared at the title for a moment. The book was old, no doubt about it. The title read "Legends and Laws of the Unova Region", and upon opening the book she read that the last time the book had been borrowed was sometime in the late nineteen-hundreds, though she couldn't make out the exact date as most of the black, and faded to grey, ink was rubbed off from untimely and unproductive years.

Finding a small spot in a corner at the back of the room, White pulled a torch out of the bottom of her bag and begun flicking through the book. Why she was interested in the legends of Unova, she wasn't really sure, but somehow she was happy that she'd found the book interesting. A few weeks ago, she would have scoffed at the book, but now, it was different. She read about the legendary Pokémon of Unova, such as the legendary Kami Trio, also known as Tornadus, Thundurus and Landorus, and how Landorus punished Tornadus and Thundurus for wreaking havoc on the world, the Swords of Justice, consisting of Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion and Keldeo, and how they challenged humans to protect other Pokémon, and finally, the one she'd been looking for. The legend of Zekrom, Reshiram and Kyurem. She looked at the page for a few moments.

"Kyurem?" she muttered. That must have been the third legendary dragon Iris had told her about that she didn't want to talk about. White checked her watch and was slightly annoyed with herself when she realised how late it was getting. She'd planned on leaving that afternoon, but she'd been so engrossed in reading that she hadn't had time to leave. Scowling, she shoved the book into her bag, figuring no one would worry about it or even notice it missing since neither it nor the library had been used in several years.

She squinted her eyes when she stepped back out into the glaring sunlight, which was now golden and setting behind the city. Rather than walking back to the Pokémon Center, she made her way back to the park at the end of the city and climbed up her tree. She liked that particular spot now, and didn't really want to leave it. But she knew she had to. She had to become the greatest Trainer ever, gosh darn it! And to do that, she couldn't sit around in her tree drawing for the rest of her life.

But for the rest of the night, that was what she did. She sat in the tree, no one noticing her, sketching rough sketches of the legendary Pokémon in the book. Her eyes were too tired to read the fading, fancy writing of the book, but she could just make out a blurry outline of each of the legendaries. She knew she'd regret it in the morning, but for the first time in her usually hasty life, she felt like she could really live in the moment of that night, and living in the present was not something she would usually do, but for the first time she really appreciated it.

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**Misa: Well, we're all done here! By the way, I meant to get this chapter out last week, but my laptop broke...**

**White: You mean **_**you**_** dropped it?**

**Cheren: Down the stairs, to be exact.**

**Misa: … Shut up, it was only two stairs, and they had carpet on them, so it's not **_**too **_**broken. Anyway, point is that I lost the part of the chapter I'd written and had to start again on the home computer. Point aside, stay tuned for the next chapter and make sure to review!**


	15. The Desert Not-So-Resort

**Pokémon: Black and White**

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**Misa: How's it going? Here's to another chapter of Pokémon Black and White! Just letting you know, I've barely had any time to write recently as we've been given a whole ton of exams and assignments. Anyway, I wrote this on my night off, but after this it's back to homework *sigh*.**

**White: Good thing we don't have to go to school.**

**PBaW Cast: *Nods*.**

**Misa: Right, I think even Cheren would crack under the amount of work we've been given… anyway, next week I'll be pretty much done with exams and that means I'll be back to working on fanfictions… ugh, I have no life in or out of school… anyway, for the fifteenth time, I don't own Pokémon.**

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"White!"

The voice echoed around White's head. A high-pitched, squeaky voice that was hard for her ears to take in. Her mind was overrun with dreams, but when she slowly opened her eyes she suddenly realised how sore her body was and how uncomfortable the position she was in was. She wasn't sure why, however, but all she knew was that she was sitting on an awkward angle on something hard. Her vision was blurred and the sun shone into her tired eyes, so the light was hard to take in. She groaned slightly, before she finally realised where she was.

"White! Wake…"

"WAH!"

_Crash!_

Luckily, when White fell out of the tree she landed on the grassy side of the park rather than the concrete path. Dazed, she tried to look around, but her eyes were spinning too much for her to be able to focus on anything. Eventually, when her eyes slowed to a standstill, she was able to make out the blonde, human figure standing over her, peering into her eyes.

"Oh, so you're awake, then!" chirped Bianca, not bothering to worry over the fact that her best friend had just fallen out of a tree. "Oh, are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, Bianca," grumbled White, sitting up and holding her head, which was wobbling from side to side. "Fine and freakin' dandy!" The sarcasm dripping out of White's mouth would have been obvious to most people. Of course, this was Bianca who was hearing it, a girl who wouldn't know what "sarcasm" meant if it slapped her in the face.

"Oh, that's good!" she said, her face brightening up into a reassured smile. White rolled her eyes, though instantly regretted it as she became dizzy again.

"You're an idiot…" she grumbled, though it was just out of earshot to Bianca. She shook her head, using the tree trunk beside her to hoist herself up to her feet. "Oh, I must have…" She looked up at the tree she'd fallen out of. "I must have fallen asleep up there." She rubbed her now aching back, groaning. Maybe sitting in a tree all night wasn't the greatest idea. She remembered drawing in her journal, then putting it back in her bag. However, at that point she couldn't be bothered to climb down from the tree, and must have fallen asleep.

"Well, anyway, I was just about to head on to Route 4, but then I saw you asleep in the tree. It's a good thing you're not a restless sleeper." Bianca giggled. "So, anyway, I woke you up and here I am. Cheren's already left, but you're not leaving until you battle me!"

"Whatever," mumbled White. "Let's just get it over with. Three on three?"

"Yep!"

The two made their way to the centre of the park and released their Pokémon.

"Tranquill, stand guard!"

"Go, Herdier! Use Take Down!"

"Detect, Tranquill!"

Herdier leapt into the air, attempting to ram into Tranquill. However, the bird Pokémon's eyes glowed red and it managed to shoot through the air, dodging the charging dog Pokémon, who fell out of the air in shock and crashed down onto the ground.

"Tranquill, use Air Cutter!" commanded White, taking the opportunity while Herdier was still on the ground. Tranquill sent gusts of razor-sharp wind at Herdier, which exploded on the ground upon impact and sent dust flying everywhere.

"Take Down, Herdier!" called Bianca. Herdier leapt, quite impressively, out of the dust and rammed into Tranquill, who was struck out of the sky and sent crashing to the ground.

"Gust, Tranquill!" The panic in White's voice was evident as her Pokémon neared the ground. However, just before he made impact, Tranquill blew gusts of win at the ground and flew back up into the air, before sending more gusts at Herdier, knocking it back into a tree and defeating it.

"Return, Herdier," said Bianca sadly. "Good job. Now, go, Munna!"

"Let's get this over with, Tranquill," called White, "use Air Cutter!"

"Psywave, Munna!"

Before Tranquill even got a chance to attack, it was hit by an eerie, distorted wave through the air and knocked to the ground.

"Unlucky, Tranquill," sighed White, returning him to his Pokéball. "Go, Lillipup!"

"Pup!" barked Lillipup, wagging its tail.

"Use Bite!"

Lillipup leapt into the air, crunching down on Munna, who cried out in pain and was dragged to the ground with Lillipup. Out of reflex when it hit the ground, it sent another wave of distorted atmosphere at Lillipup, who was pushed back, but still managed to stand on her feet.

"Keep at it, Lillipup, use Take Down."

Lillipup rammed into Munna with extreme force, causing the two to crash into the ground and create a large crater in the dirt. Bianca then ordered a Psywave from her Munna, sending Lillipup falling backwards and rolling a few times.

"Finish it, Lillipup, use Bite!"

And Lillipup did indeed finish it, as one more Bite was easily enough to finish off Munna, who was returned to her Pokéball.

"Return, Lillipup!" called White, before turning her gaze to Bianca. The two friends grinned before pulling out their Pokéballs.

"Go, Pignite!"

"Go, Dewott!"

The two Pokémon were called simultaneously, and landed on the ground at the same time also. Dewott smirked at Pignite, slashing her shells through the air, while Pignite stomped the ground, charging up for its first attack.

"Flame Charge, Pignite!" yelled Bianca, jabbing the air in front of her with her index finger for emphasis.

"Extinguish that bacon with Water Gun, Dewott!"

Steam filled the air as Pignite was hit with the let of water and sent flying backwards. It managed to steady itself before too long, however, as Dewott's Water Gun ran out of power. Pignite snorted, blowing a few flames out of its nostrils, singeing the ground as it did so.

"Razor Shell, Dewott!"

"Flame Charge!"

The two Pokémon once again came flying at each other, Dewott holding her shells, ready to slash at her opponent, and Pignite cloaked in fire. Dewott, however, was too fast for Pignite, and narrowly dodged the Fire-type and slashed at it from behind, before sending a quick Water Gun in its way, finishing the battle.

"Awesome!" cheered White, punching the air. As soon as she did so, however, she noticed Bianca's face had fallen. "Hey, are you…?"

"I'll never be a strong Trainer like you or Cheren or Iris, but…" Bianca sighed, before she turned to face White. "When I left Nuvema town, I've met a lot of people and I've been thinking about what I want to do in life." She grinned, her expression changing back to the usual, happy-go-lucky Bianca expression. "When you look at it that way, Pokémon have given me a lot of new experiences. I just hope it doesn't have to end anytime soon."

"It won't." White laughed a little. "Don't you worry about it, Bianca, we'll keep travelling together for a long time."

"Yeah!" Bianca grinned at her friend, feeling a little reassured. "Thanks, now let's get going! To Route 4!"

The two girls laughed, rushing off out onto the route. Once they stepped out, White opened her mouth to speak and immediately swallowed a mouthful of sand.

"W-what…" she spluttered, coughing up the sand and spitting it onto the ground.

"Apparently a sandstorm rages one out of three days on this route," chirped Bianca, seeming much too happy about their current situation.

"So naturally we get that one in three chance," grumbled White. "Just my luck… Well, I guess the sooner we get out, the better." The two began to walk up the route, though it was made hard as they had to turn their heads to the side so that the sand blew into the back of their heads rather than their eyes and mouth.

"Hey, White, Bianca!"

The sound of Cheren's voice made the two turn their heads ahead of them, once again receiving a mouthful of sand.

"Screw you, Cheren!" coughed White, wiping the sand off of her tongue and putting a hand on the side of her face to block anything more from hitting her face from the side. Cheren just chuckled and walked up to them.

"You guys are slow," he said simply, crossing his arms. "I've been waiting for at least an hour."

"Well, White fell asleep in a tree, so we were a bit late," explained Bianca, as if that was going to clear everything up. Cheren sweatdropped.

"Uh, right," he mumbled, raising an eyebrow. "Anyway, we're headed to the Desert Resort before we go to Nimbasa. Apparent there's a castle there, a really old one. I want to check it out."

"Alright," said White, as the three began walking up the road. However, she couldn't help thinking how odd the words "desert" and "resort" sounded together. Somehow, she didn't think the resort would be a walk in the park.

-.-.-

She was right, of course. When the three reached the entrance to the resort, Cheren had rushed ahead, causing White and Bianca to be forced to run after him at full speed, while trying to keep their balance from the sand pounding into their sides.

"Usually, when you say "resort", you mean tropical islands, beaches and litres of mango smoothies," yelled White angrily, though her words came out muffled as they were having trouble cutting through the flying sand. "But _no_, Unova's too good for that. We're too exotic, because here, a resort means sand, wind and _freaking sandstorms!"_

"What are you talking about?" panted Bianca, who, along with White, was now having trouble breathing through the gushing wind. "This place isn't exotic at all!"

White smacked her forehead at her friend's denseness. "Will you ever understand sarcasm?"

Before Bianca could reply, they were grabbed by one hand each and pulled behind a large building.

"There you are," said Cheren, shaking his head. "Too slow." He turned to the structure before them. "Anyway, this is the relic castle. People say it's over 2,500 years old. Iris told me that it was built by one of the twin heroes." White's heart leapt when she heard the twin heroes part, though this went pretty much unnoticed by Cheren, who was now rambling on about the castle.

"Oh, facts schmacts, Cheren," said Bianca, waving a hand dismissively before grabbing White and Cheren by the wrists. "Let's just go in. I wanna see what's going on down there!"

Before White and Cheren could protest, they were pulled out from behind the castle (which was blocking the sandstorm) and through the doors of the massive stone relic. Once the three stepped through the door, Bianca stopped pulling them and her mouth dropped open in awe.

"Whoa!" she gasped, letting go of her friends' wrists.

"Impressive," stated White. Suddenly, a certain chill ran down her spine, causing a soft, tingling feeling to spread throughout her veins. She jumped back a little. It felt as if a wind had blown through the castle, but they were indoors, so that couldn't happen, right?

"Let's go further inside!" said Bianca, starting to run, but Cheren grabbed her shirt before she could get anymore than a few feet from where she was standing. However, her legs continued to move. White stifled a laugh at how stupid the scene looked before Cheren began speaking.

"Okay, we need to lay a few ground rules," he sighed, shaking his head. At this, Bianca stopped running, but she still seemed hyped up and ready to go into the temple. "For one, no running in the temple." Cheren pointed to a quicksand hole in front of the group. "If you run through them or carelessly go into the middle of one, you'll be sucked down to the floor below and end up Arceus knows where. Rule two, we have to stick together. There's Yamask in here and they like to play tricks like getting travellers lost down there, so no running off from the group." This rule seemed to be directed mainly at White, who just shrugged.

"Fine, let's just go," she said. Cheren rolled his eyes, wondering how long his rules would be in play by the other two girls.

Apparently, not very long, because only a few minutes later, White had decided to chase after a Yamask and try and catch it. She'd sent out Lillipup to get the job done, and naturally the overexcited Pokémon had fallen down the quicksand hole. Just as naturally, White had jumped down to follow her before Cheren or Bianca could stop her.

"Wah!" she screamed, grabbing Lillipup in her arms as they fell through to the floor below. The two landed on the ground with a _plonk_, though luckily for them they landed on a particularly soft pile of sand, which broke their fall by a considerable amount.

"Pup!" yapped Lillipup, leaping to her feet and looking around for the Yamask, which was long gone.

"Don't worry about it, Lillipup," grumbled White. "It's gone now." Lillipup's face fell. White stood up, looking around. "But, where are we…?"

"Calm it, Rhys, it's not _that _dark."

"Yes it is! It's pitch black!"

"Hang on," White muttered, "I've heard those voices somewhere before."

"GET ME OUTTA HERE I'M SICK OF IT I JUST WANNA GO…! _Oof!"_

White looked down, shocked, at the boy who'd just face-planted right into the sand in front of her. The messy brown hair, the green eyes, the Team Plasma uniform. Somehow, she'd seen it all in one person before.

Then, it clicked, as soon as the boy stood up. The two stood in front of each other, turning their heads to the side, as if mirroring each others' every move.

"You!" they said in unison.

"Not me, you!" snapped White, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. Lillipup was now growling menacingly at the boy. "Anyway, you're Rhys, right? I met you in the Dreamyard when you and that other moron were kicking that Munna."

"Who're you calling a moron?" At that point, Ashley came storming through the door that Rhys had come out of, her blue eyes glinting with anger and her black hair trailing behind her. "You're the moron here, messing with our plans. Why'd you have to screw with us in the Dreamyard, huh?"

Rhys looked on awkwardly as the two automatically began arguing. _They're more alike than I thought, _he thought to himself, shaking his head. "Uh, guys, can I interrupt?"

"What?" said the two, snapping their heads towards him. He jumped back, seeming a little scared having two generally feisty, short-tempered girls staring at him.

"Wait, why are you two here, anyway?" asked White, tapping her foot.

"Well, we're here for a very important job." Ashley stood tall and proud, puffing out her chest.

"In reality, we were in the resort doing some research and we got lost," sighed Rhys, dodging the slap that Ashley threw at him once he admitted what they were actually doing there. "We were actually meant to not leave the top floor, but _someone _decided catching this Yamask would be an amazing idea."

"Well, sorry, it was annoying me, and I wanted to teach it a lesson," snapped Ashley, turning her head away from Rhys.

"That doesn't seem too Team Plasma like…" muttered White.

"So, we explained why we're here, so your turn," said Rhys. "Spill."

"Similar reason to you, actually," sighed White. "I, too, was chasing a Yamask and I, too, fell down a quicksand pit and ended up here. You two know how to get out of here?" Both Team Plasma grunts shook their heads shamefully. "Alright, well, we might as well stick together. I know we're enemies, but I get the feeling you guys aren't exactly happy being in Team Plasma."

"What do you mean?" asked Ashley, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, for one thing you said you wanted to punish a Pokémon," said White simply. "And also, you seem too nice." She pointed to Rhys. "You seem too snappy towards Pokémon," she pointed at Ashley, "and neither of them are traits I've seen on other grunts. Now, let's get out of here, it's getting hard to breathe."

"She's good," whispered Rhys, shrugging.

The three (and Lillipup) made their way through the castle, not really sure where to go.

"So, do you have a clue how we're meant to get out of here?" asked White, looking around thoughtfully.

"You're meant to be able to get out if you jump down a few sinkholes," explained Ashley, who'd seemed to have calmed down a little. "But there's no clear one we're meant to jump down. Either way, if we jump down enough we're meant to either end up in this pit connected to the legendary dragons, or in a small ruin where there's a stone tablet with something also about the legendary dragons. Either one of them should have an exit. If not, well, we're stuck."

"Good to know…" muttered White. Even now, her heart was pounding. She felt a connection with the place, like she'd been there before. She was sure she hadn't, however, as her parents would have never taken her someplace like this. She never left home much, let alone left home to go and explore temples and castles in the desert. So why did she feel this?

"Let's try this one, then."

Ashley's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked ahead of her to see a large sand pit where the sand was slowly flowing down into a hole. White and Rhys nodded simultaneously, before the three leapt down into the hole at the same time. A few seconds later, they landed on the ground of the floor below with three loud _thuds_.

"How is it that somewhere so far underground is lit so well?" White wondered aloud to herself. Rhys apparently heard her, and answered the question off the top of his head without hesitation.

"It's meant to be because of Volcarona," he said, though he didn't look back at her as he walked. Before she could ask who Volcarona was, he answered that, too. "Volcarona is a very rare Bug and Fire-type. It's said to be able to light up even the darkest of darkness with its fire. It's nicknamed the "Embodiment of the Sun" because of this. I'm pretty sure that's why it's so light down here. Volcarona lives somewhere down here, though it hides pretty well, so I doubt we'll see him."

"Cool," said White, nodding.

After dropping down numerous quicksand pits, the three were beginning to get tired, bored and thirsty. Ashley seemed to be taking this the hardest, and was beginning to complain loudly.

"I wanna go home," she grumbled, sulking and pouting her lip. "I'm tired and thirsty and my feet hurt. These stupid Team Plasma uniforms don't help either. They're hot and sticky and I'm covered in sweat…"

"Lillipup, use Tackle to shut her up," sighed White, shaking her head. Lillipup hesitated for a moment before ramming in to Ashley. The black-haired girl yelped, leaping backwards and plonking down into the sand.

"Ow! Now my back hurts! Thanks a lot!" Ashley looked like she was about to cry, but before she got the chance, White sent out Dewott and ordered for her to use Water Gun on Ashley.

"There," she said, turning around and continuing to walk the way they were going before Ashley had begun complaining. "Now you're not hot anymore. Now, the sooner we get out of here the sooner we can go take a break. But for now, please, for the love of Arceus, _shut up_!"

"Okay…"

After another half hour or so, White was beginning to see why Ashley was complaining. The sand was getting deeper and deeper as they descended down the castle. And was now deep enough so she sunk to her ankles, and the tiny grains were now beginning to fill her boots.

"Why the hell did they call this a resort?" she grumbled, wiping a drop of sweat off of her face. She pulled her water bottle out of her bag, but was shocked to find it empty. "Dewott, dose me." She let out a relieved sigh as she was hit with the freezing stream of water from her Pokémon.

"Guys, I see stairs!" called Rhys delightedly, running up to a small hole in the wall that led down a hallway to a long flight of stairs. Light seemed to be shining down from it, not the unnatural light that had been lighting up the rooms that actually didn't feel like it was coming from the proper sun, but pure, flawless light, which had more warmth about it than the light filling the castle.

"We can get out of here!" squealed Ashley, running up to Rhys. "Let's go, White!"

But White stayed with her feet planted into the ground. She wasn't sure why, but something was holding her to that spot. She wanted to explore more, look around the relic that they were now in. Rhys had said that the quicksand would either lead them to a place with ancient ruins, or a place connected to the heroes and the dragons. White didn't see any ancient writing, so this must have been the pit connected to the dragons. The fact that, when the place was built two and a half thousand years ago, either Zekrom or Reshiram stood in that exact spot intrigued her.

"Nah, I think I'm going to stay for a bit," she said. Ashley and Rhys looked a little puzzled, but nodded after a few seconds.

"Alright," they said together. "But be careful."

"Oh, and I know we're enemies, but," Ashley started, "we'll let you go this time, since you helped us out. Next time we see each other, though, it's back to fighting. Next time, we'll be total enemies." Ashley winked before ascending the stairs with Rhys.

"Well, that was odd," muttered White. "But those two… they're okay, for Team Plasma grunts, anyway." She smiled to herself before turning around and beginning to search the temple. Beside her was a large wall that was made of massive bricks, probably about the length of her own height. Around her was nothing but sand, but, she thought, there had to be something more to it. If the heroes of Unova had built the place, there had to be a reason.

As if on cue, she felt her foot connect with something, making a small clinking sound as it did so. That something rolled across the sand as she kicked it. She looked down to see a small black stone. She bent down slowly to pick it up, but when her hand went towards it, both the stone and her hand began shaking. Quickly, out of shock, she withdrew her hand and clutched it to her chest. Taking a closer look, she realised the stone resembled the stone in the museum. It had the same, smooth-cut surface, and the same small dents. The only difference was that it was black rather than white.

A few seconds later, curiosity got the best of her, and she shoved her hand towards the stone, not stopping when both began to shake. As soon as her hand connected with it, the shaking stopped, but she suddenly felt a jolt flow up her arm, like electricity. After the jolt reached her shoulder, it continued to climb up her neck and to her head. Once it hit her brain, she suddenly felt dizzy, just like she'd felt in the museum. No, not like she felt in the museum, because this time she felt sick, like she was going to vomit.

At that point, the same vision she'd had in the museum when touching the white stone in there came to her head. At least, she though it was the same vision, but it clearly wasn't. This time, the eye was blue, and the flesh surrounding the eye was black. The voice she heard was different, too, somewhat more angry and seemed full of hatred and loathing. The word it said was the same, though, repeated over and over again.

"_White, White…"_

After a few seconds, the vision vanished and White found herself sitting on the ground, breathing heavily. The stone was in front of her, rolling feebly on the sand. She held her head, shaking it. She didn't feel sick anymore. In fact, she felt perfectly fine, like nothing had happened. What she did know, though, was that whatever was communicating with her through the stone didn't like her. It was angry at her, or even scared of her.

Naturally, being White, she had to grab the stone again. This time, however, nothing happened. Her hand didn't shake, the vision didn't appear. Instead, she just held the stone in her hand, utterly baffled about what had just happened.

"Yam, Yamask!"

White looked up to see the same Yamask who'd sent her tumbling down the quicksand pit floating in front of her.

"Oh, hi…" muttered White.

"Yam!" Yamask seemed happy about her presence, but then noticed the stone sitting in her hand and immediately burst into what seemed like protests.

"Hey, hey, you can have it back, I don't want it!" assured White, holding out the stone. Yamask paused, before grinning at her and taking the stone in its tiny hands.

"Yam!" it chirped, delighted about having the stone back, before disappearing into thin air.

White stood up. She'd been down in the relic castle for about two hours, and she hadn't seen Cheren and Bianca since.

Wait…

"Cheren and Bianca!" she gasped, scrambling to the stairs and rushing up them. At the top, she found herself standing at the edge of a large ledge, which she didn't hesitate to leap down, hoping that was the path that led to the exit. Sure enough, she found herself on the first floor of the castle once more.

"I'm sure she'll be here soon," said Cheren, looking around, though the worry in his eyes was evident.

"You said that _two and a half hours ago, _Cheren!" snapped Bianca. "We have to look for her!"

"No, you don't!" chirped White, walking up to them as if they'd never been separated.

"White!" shrieked Bianca joyfully, running up and throwing her arms around her best friend's neck. "We were so worried! Even Cheren was, and he never gets worried! What happened down there?"

"Uh, long story," choked White, who was having trouble breathing with Bianca's clutch of death around her neck.

"Well, we beat up a few Team Plasma grunts while waiting for you," said Cheren simply, adjusting his glasses.

"Yeah, you'll never believe this!" exclaimed Bianca, letting go of White's neck, who gasped in oxygen and took a few deep breaths. "It was those two we saw in the Dreamyard, remember? The ones who kicked the Munna? I think it was Ashley and Rhys or something… Anyway, can you believe it?"

White paused her deep breathing for a moment when she heard the names, then she laughed a little. "You know what, somehow I can."

Before Cheren and Bianca could ask what she meant, she was already out of the castle and running ahead of them.

"Come on! Last one to Nimbasa's a rotten Exaggcute!" she called behind her.

"H-hey, no fair!" whined Bianca, chasing after her. Cheren rolled his eyes irritably, before running along behind them.

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**Misa: Yes, the return of Ashley and Rhys. I realised while writing this that we haven't seen them in ten chapters, so I decided to add them in! Anyways, I'm off to do homework, so make sure to review (they brighten my week!), stay tuned for the next chapter and I'll see you guys next time!**


	16. Flight of the Ferris Wheel

**Pokémon: Black and White**

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**Misa: How's it going everyone? I'm back with another chapter! I have to say, this turned out way longer than I expected it to… but I've actually been writing this part of the story since I began writing this story altogether. I've been taking notes and stuff and I guess I've really been anticipating putting this up just because it's one of the chapters I've had planned since the beginning. Anyway, let's get straight into it!**

**Disclaimer: Misa doesn't own Pokémon.**

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The lights of Nimbasa City shone down on White as she stepped through the gateway. The view was magnificent, and seeing light for the first time that night was relieving to her strained eyes. She'd been walking at night, and it wasn't until half past nine that she stepped foot in the city. Her feet were pretty much dead and her legs felt like heavy jelly, but the fact that she'd finally reached her destination made her so eager that she'd forgotten her weariness and had sprinted head on through the gate and leaped into the city, earning a few odd looks from the few residents of the city that were still awake, but she didn't care. Well, she probably would have cared if she was actually paying attention.

"It's so pretty," she breathed, taking in the glowing lights of the city that shone upon her. She'd seen Nimbasa on television and she'd always wanted to go there, but she never thought she'd ever be able to experience such an amazing sight at night time. It looked even better in real life than it did on television, but there was one thing she wanted to check out most, and possibly the only thing that would still be open at that time

"Amusement park, here I come!" she sang, dashing away from the gate straight toward the amusement park, which was pretty much Nimbasa City's main attraction, especially for children. When she'd heard Nimbasa was her next stop, she'd been afraid she'd have to wait in line for ages to get on rides in the amusement park, but when she showed up at night she figured she'd make the best of the lack of people.

"L-leave me alone!"

White's ears pricked and she skidded to a halt when she heard the frantic wails in the distance that sounded as if they were coming from an old man. She looked around, hoping it wasn't anything too bad. Usually, she'd be happy to help anyone, but she was so eager to get to where she was going that she'd been ignoring any surrounding sound until now. Of course, when she saw where the wails were coming from and who exactly was causing them, her thoughts on anything else were booted out of her head and replaced with the view of an old man standing in front of a Blitzle. The man was looking terrified, and the Blitzle looked ready to electrocute anything that stood in its way. Unfortunately, it seemed to be thinking twice about it due to the fact that the Team Plasma grunt standing before them was using a Sandile to fight.

"The nerve…" White growled, not thinking any second thoughts before she ran up to the scene and stood in front of the man, who was just about to be attacked by the Sandile, though the crocodile Pokémon stopped and stared at her in shock when she appeared out of nowhere, and even looked a little scared at the angry look on her face.

"W-what?" stammered the grunt, jumping back a little in shock. "Oh, it's just a girl. We can take this." The grunt smirked, looking down at his Sandile, who was now looking confident as ever and was growling quietly at the brunette standing before it.

"Attacking an old man," sighed White, shaking her head and tutting in shame at the grunt. "What a loser. You honestly think you're so tough? That's a cheap move, idiot."

"What? _Cheap?_ I am most certainly not cheap!" snapped the grunt, pointing his nose into the air in a defensive, slightly snobbish way. "I'll have you know, this uniform cost me a lot of money! Does that sound cheap to you?" He held the cape attached to the back of his uniform in front of White and waved it through the air a little. White just raised an eyebrow and sweatdropped.

"You actually have to pay for those things…" she muttered to herself, before she pulled out Dewott's Pokéball. "Sick 'em, Dewott!"

Before the grunt could react, Dewott was standing between the two humans, Sandile was lying on the ground unconscious, Blitzle was looking ready to electrify someone enough to burn them to a crisp, and the grunt stared at the scene with a twitching eye, apparently pretty ticked off at the fact that he hadn't even had a chance to react to the situation.

"B-but… that's not fair…" he mumbled, noticeable annoyance in his voice. White smirked as Dewott held up her shells.

"Dew," she said smugly, jabbing the shell at the grunt casually, gesturing for him to leave while he could. "Dew Dewott dew," she finished, this phrase translating to something like, "_You have three seconds to run_."

"Y-you… can't…" The grunt gulped, before turning on his heels and running off into the city towards the amusement park yelling something along the lines of, "Seeyah later, suckers! Or maybe I won't, because Team Plasma will _kill you_!"

"Well, that was a bit harsh," said White, shrugging, before patting Dewott on the head. "Good job, buddy."

"T-thank you so much for your help!" said the old man gratefully. White had nearly forgotten about him during the events that had happened. Dewott stood beside him, grinning widely. "I don't know what would have happened if they had have taken Blitzle."

"Happy to help." White smiled, giving the Blitzle a scratch behind the ears. "This little guy's cute," she laughed, as Blitzle jumped up and down happily before trotting over to investigate Dewott.

"Well, he's not mine," said the man sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Actually, he's a little boy's Pokémon. I run a day-care over near Striaton, and I'm looking after this Blitzle for the little boy until he's old enough to raise it himself."

"So it would have sucked if you lost it then," sighed White. Even if she didn't particularly like kids, she still hated the way Team Plasma stole Pokémon from innocent people, especially when the Pokémon are clearly happy with their Trainers.

"Uh, yes." The man paused for a moment. "Well, I'd better get back. I came here to take Blitzle for a walk around the city, but I think I'll head back to the Pokémon Center now to get some rest."

"Alright, and I'll go and see where that idiot went," said White, bowing slightly to the elder. "You be careful, okay?"

"I will be, thanks again!" The man then left, the Blitzle trotting happily along ahead of him, neighing and jumping at the pretty lights of the city. White chuckled at the scene, before her gaze turned steely again and her eyes fixed on the amusement park.

"Let's find those idiots and give them a piece of our minds," she said to Dewott. "Actually, I don't want our minds to go to waste, so we'll just cut 'em with your shells, okay, Dewott?"

"Dewott!" chirped Dewott, slashing the air with her shells once more, before the two made their way to the amusement park.

-.-.-

A figure stood in the amusement park, which was pretty much abandoned for the night. The figure was tall, with long shaggy hair that looked a darker shade of green than it actually was thanks to the lack of light that shone behind the tree that he leaned against. A Zorua stood next to him, feeling alive and jumpy at night, looking like it could pull off twenty laps of the nearby football field without getting tired.

"_I love night time!_" Zorua chirped, leaping around a few times. "_It's so pretty! I feel so alive!_" A few evil laughs came from the tiny fox Pokémon, as if it were a mad scientist. N just chuckled at it. Joy filled his heart at the Pokémon's happiness, though that joy was quickly overrun with hate that he suddenly realised he felt from where he was.

Honestly, the place disgusted him enough to sneer every time he turned his head to look at a new part of the place. The park revolved pretty much around Pokémon, but everything was man-made. People often dragged their Pokémon there and forced them to take part in performances and shows to entertain humans, something that they clearly couldn't pull off themselves. The place centred around Pokémon slavery, and he hated it.

"This place sickens me," he grumbled, crossing his arms and shaking his head, though his tricky-fox companion didn't seem to take notice of this comment. "People force Pokémon to participate in activities for human entertainment…"

Though before N could finish his sentence, he heard shrieks of laughter coming from behind him. He turned to see Zorua rolling around on a large circus ball that had been sitting against the outer fence of the park.

"_This is fun!" _he giggled, running on top of the rolling ball_. "I can understand why Pokémon agree to this in shows 'n' stuff, I wanna be in a circus!"_

"You don't understand what they do to those Pokémon in the circus," sighed N, shaking his head. "They are forced, and if they don't do what the Trainer expects, they are punished horrendously."

"_Yeah, but it's fun as heck! I think it's worth having to perform if I get to do this all day! I wanna be a circus Pokémon!"_

Being a Dark-type, Zorua was always like this at night. But now with all the play equipment around, N wasn't sure how long his sanity would last with the constant, high-pitched laugher ringing through his ears.

"I do wish you would calm down at night. We are waiting for our colleagues, but we might be spotted if you don't be quiet." N shook his head. Usually, he'd be overjoyed at seeing his Pokémon friend having as much fun as he was now, but when it came to work, he had to keep serious. He needed his plans to work, and for that to happen he needed to meet the remaining Team Plasma members stationed in Nimbasa City in the amusement park, at night, alone.

"But it's hard to keep secret about things when I have you here, Zorua," said N, though he couldn't keep up his seriousness for much longer with the Pokémon shrieking with delight in the background, and he ended up laughing along, too. "Well, I know it's not good to make Pokémon perform with those big rubber balls, but what's the harm in having a little fun when no one's here to watch?" N turned to Zorua and caught the fox as it leaped off the ball and into his arms. The two laughed hysterically, falling to the ground and rolling around.

"Huh, I hear laughing…"

The two froze at the voice. It was somewhat familiar to both of their ears, though it was relatively far away, so it was somewhat muffled, enough to make the voice just unrecognisable to one's ears.

"Is there someone else here, Dewott?"

"White," both Pokémon and human muttered, just as the voice became loud enough to figure out. They stood up slowly and hid behind the tree N had been leaning against and stayed perfectly still, not moving an inch, though N was still slightly disturbed by something he'd told himself no more than a few days before.

"_Next time I meet her, I will tell her my secret."_

He'd sworn that to himself, but had he actually meant it? Was he actually going to tell her? She wasn't even on the same side as him, in terms of his beliefs anyway. The thing that compelled him it tell her was the way she treated her Pokémon. Ever since he'd met her, he knew she was different. Ever since the first day of her journey, when she'd only been with that Oshawott for not even a day, her Pokémon respected her and loved her, and she felt the same back. She treated them with love and kindness, even though she was a Trainer. Ever since then, he'd been watching her, but even then, she was just another Trainer.

So through all that, through the battles, the hurt, the pain, what made her different. What made her… White?

-.-.-

"I could have sworn I heard a voice," whispered White, shivers going down her spine. She didn't like the idea at being alone in an amusement park with someone watching her, and even now she found herself sticking closer to Dewott than either of them would usually find comfortable. Luckily for her, ever since Dewott had evolved, she'd become ridiculously protective of White, like she was a father, only she was a Pokémon, and, well, a girl.

"Shush, Zorua, she'll hear us!"

"Was that…?" White raised an eyebrow, finally realising who it was that had been making such a racket, and suddenly she wasn't so scared anymore, because the source of the voice wasn't all that scary. Actually, you could say it was the complete opposite of scary.

"N?" she said, walking up to see the tall, green-haired boy standing behind a tree, not moving an inch. "If you're trying to blend into that tree, it might be worth noting that you're definitely tall enough, but you're hair's slightly too pail to match the leaves."

N sweatdropped. "Hello to you too, White."

This shoved another question into N's already full mind. If White acted to snide and impatient towards humans, then why was she so nice to Pokémon? Before he'd watched her when she wasn't looking, he thought that she was just acting nice to them in public, and that when she was on her own she probably neglected them, but that didn't seem to happen. Her Pokémon were generally happy, he'd had that confirmed when he heard their voices. But in reality, White didn't seem like a particularly nice person, so how could she be so nice to Pokémon?

"N!"

N snapped back to reality at the sound of his own name and White's fingers clicking in front of his face.

"Stop daydreaming! Or, night… _dreaming?_" White shook her head. "You know what, don't worry. Just concentrate. I asked what you were doing here!"

"I was simply enjoying a stroll." N's attempt at an excuse for standing behind a tree in an amusement park at night apparently didn't strike White's chords enough for her to believe him.

"You were taking a stroll?" she asked in disbelief, crossing her arms and smirking. N nodded slowly. "In an amusement park," N nodded again, "at night," more nods, "behind a tree? Did I get that right?" This time, the boy shook his head. "Thought not, you were probably just being a creep like always. Anyway, I gotta run, I'm looking for those Team Plasma thugs. They're loose in the amusement park, so I don't have time to chit-chat. Have fun with your, err, tree."

"Wait!" called N, reaching a hand out and grabbing her shirt, pulling her back.

"What?" snapped White, now beginning to sound impatient, or maybe she was just slightly annoyed that N had just nearly strangled her by grabbing the collar of her shirt.

"D-did you say Team Plasma?" N gulped as White nodded. The way she'd said it made them sound like dogs. Of course, he'd already had reports from Team Plasma about her, but he'd never actually heard her talk about them to him. "Loose in the amusement park?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with me _crushing them to the ground_!?" White put certain emphasis on the last part, punching her fist into the palm of her hand as she did so and smirking somewhat evilly.

"Uh, well, no… it's just…"

"Oh, I hear voices!" White turned around quickly and began rushing away from N. "They're over there!"

"Wait…"

"Gotta run!"

"Let me help you look for them!" yelled N, running in front of her and standing with his feet planted into the ground, blocking her from getting past him. "I-it'll be easier with two people, so…"

"Uh, okay…" muttered White, a little confused at the sudden outburst. "As long as you don't get in my way."

Unfortunately, that was exactly what N was there for. He didn't want her finding them. But how could he tell her under these circumstances? Well, it would probably be easy, but surviving her anger after he spat out the words would be the hard part. He knew however much she hated him that she wouldn't take the news well. It would sprout another layer of hate, another reason for her to destroy him, and unfortunately he knew she was quite capable of doing just that.

-.-.-

"Huh, can't find them anywhere." White placed her hands on her hips, looking around the amusement park one last time just in case the grunts popped up at that moment. "Creeps are probably watching us right now."

"Hm," was N's only reaction, though he felt nervousness bubbling up in his stomach. White didn't know this, but the grunts were probably watching them right now, wondering what N was doing with her. He'd actually been keeping her away from them as much as he could, and every time he spotted them he would find some lame excuse to make White go in the other direction. Unfortunately for him, after awhile White had gotten sick of this and taken the lead, not listening to N's feeble excuses, but the grunts had finally taken the hint and gone into hiding somewhere.

"You seen 'em anywhere, Zorua?" asked White, turning her gaze to the relatively calmer Pokémon. Zorua shook his head, and N felt a little jealous as Zorua had taken a bit of a liking to White and had been sitting on her shoulder the entire time rather than following him around. This confused him more than he already had been, as he wondered why on earth Zorua would want to follow a Trainer around rather than himself. He was still trying to convince himself that White was just like every other Trainer; abusive and selfish, but so far he'd had no luck finding even the slightest hint, as she'd treated Zorua well enough and he wasn't even her Pokémon.

"Well, I guess we're not going to find them. We may as well leave," said N hastily, grabbing White's shoulder and forcing her to twirl around to face the other direction. White just raised an eyebrow and took his wrist with her hand and pulled it off her shoulder, causing it to fall limply to his side.

"You can leave," she said, shaking her head and turning back around. "I'm staying to look, though. I'm not going to let those pigs get away with what they've done." She growled slightly under her breath, making N sweatdrop hesitantly.

"A-alright, I'll stay."

"Suit yourself." White shrugged and kept walking, still holding the now chuckling Zorua.

'_He's not going to tell her,' _he thought, shaking his head and giggling silently.

After another few minutes of walking in silence, the two stopped in front of the Ferris wheel, which was pretty much the amusement park's main attraction. White looked up at it, stroking her chin, apparently in deep thought. She looked over at the reception desk, where a man was sitting. He looked half asleep, but his eyes were still open. When he caught sight of the two, his eyes shot open wider and his gaze turned back to reality from the zombified, hypnotic looking one he'd had before.

"C-customers!" he gasped, jumping out of his chair as if she'd just been zapped by electricity. "I usually hate working the night shift! I don't know why they keep this place open at this time of night, it's ridiculous. But finally, I have customers! P-please, step right up!"

White hadn't been originally planning on going on the Ferris wheel, but the way the guy put it, he'd had a pretty tough night, so she sighed submissively and turned to N.

"Come on," she grumbled. "We might get a better view of the city if we look from above. Besides, the guy seems pretty desperate."

"Uh, alright…" N felt relief settle in his stomach. He'd now have another ten minutes or so to spare for the grunts to get away unnoticed. The two bought tickets and climbed onto the ride. White leaned up against the wall, making herself comfortable, with Zorua lying on her stomach. N sat on the other seat across from her, looking out the window.

"Well, we've just got to get this out of the way," sighed White, stroking Zorua on the head as she spoke. Her tone was somewhat softer than it had been all night. "Ugh, I just can't believe I'm stuck in a small space with _you _of all people."

N stayed silent, avoiding her gaze, but it was hard not to laugh when her mood lifted and she leaped off from her seat, causing Zorua to fall onto the floor.

"It's so pretty!" she breathed, pressing her nose up against the ride's window, causing a small patch of fog to appear on the window where her breath brushed it.

"It's all human made," grumbled N, a little harsher than he could have. "This used to be a paradise for Pokémon, but then the humans came and overtook it for their cities and their own lifestyle. It's disgusting."

"Jeez, you sure have strong beliefs," said White, turning to the boy adjacent to her. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you were part of Team Plasma." White laughed at her own comment, but N stayed silent. His stomach felt like it had exploded. He'd told himself that he would tell her, but…

"I-I don't think you should joke about that," mumbled N, twiddling his thumbs on his lap and staring at them. White turned her head to the side and raised an eyebrow confusedly.

"Why not, they themselves are jokes." She crossed her arms and leant back on the seat, placing her feet comfortably on the chair that N was sitting on. "They pretty much asked for it. They're a bunch of idiots. You can't lie, 'cause it's a fact."

The way she said the words was so simple, like it was obvious to anyone. Not to N, though, because he didn't find it funny. He didn't laugh. Instead, he felt a painful stab in his already bubbling stomach.

"B-but they have good views," he insisted, now trying hard as ever to avoid her gaze. At this, White laughed harder than ever, almost forcing herself to fall off of her chair, but she managed to steady herself on the wall.

"That's a good one, N," she giggled, now unable to control her breathing properly. "Good views my ass; they take kids Pokémon, tell people they should liberate Pokémon, insist battling is wrong and then battle Pokémon themselves. Face it, they're the most ironic thing ever created, and whoever came up with the idea is the biggest idiot of them all."

"Well then, you just effectively called me an idiot."

White froze. Her laughing stopped. Zorua paused his attempt at climbing back onto the seat while avoiding getting crushed by White. The girl raised her head slowly, staring the green-haired boy in the eyes.

"No," she whispered. N nodded slowly, but was shocked to see the corners of her lips curl up into a smile. "That's a good one, N!" She then promptly burst out laughing. "You actually want me to believe that you're the evil mastermind behind Team Plasma? That's the worst lie ever."

"I'm not the mastermind, I'm the king." N looked at her, more seriously now. She then paused her laughing again and stared at him.

"You're serious," she muttered, her eyes widening. He nodded again, but this time she didn't burst out laughing. She didn't punch him in the face, either, which was what the new-found king was now bracing for. Instead, her gaze softened before she spoke again.

"Well then, yeah, you're an idiot." She shook her head, the brim of her cap shading her eyes. "I'm not going to lie, I don't believe in your ideas at all. I think it's barbaric, to put a lid on it. And I'll have you know that I now dislike you more than ever."

However, if it was dislike White was feeling, she was hiding it ridiculously well. If anything, she was speaking to N in a nicer tone than she ever had before. It surprised him, considering he'd expected to have at least three broken bones by now, five since they were in an enclosed space.

"Ghetsis asked me to work with him to save the Pokémon," explained N, figuring now that she knew the start of it, she may as well be told the rest of it.

"So this is Ghetsis' fault," sneered White, growling a little. "He's an even bigger idiot than you, and that's saying something."

White knew she hated him more than ever now, but for some reason she couldn't show it. At first, she hadn't considered why she hadn't punched his nose off of his face by now, but then she realised. For N to be so passionate in his beliefs, he must have had the ideas in his head since childhood, because from what she'd seen, the king of Team Plasma had more truth behind his ideals than anyone else in Team Plasma did. She knew by now that he truly did want to save Pokémon, and that he wasn't like the rest of his underlings. But the fact that Ghetsis of all people had asked him to be in Team Plasma gave her a bitter taste in the back of her throat.

"Did you… grow up believing this?" she asked. N hesitated at the rather out of the blue question, but then nodded.

"I've seen Pokémon be abused. I know they're not treated well when they have battles. They're not looked after by their Trainers. They look so sad. I've never seen a Pokémon look happy while they're under the ownership of a Trainer. It sickens me." N shook his head in bitter disgust.

"Well, what about my Pokémon?" said White. "Do they look sad, because I'm pretty sure my Pokémon are damn happy to be with me."

"From what I've found out, you could be the exception."

White's eyes widened. "Exception?"

"There will always be exceptions to rules. You are that. But there's only one exception, and even I'm not sure about you at the moment. I still don't think your Pokémon are happy, they're just hiding their anger," N said. "I wonder how many different kinds of Pokémon there are in this world. How many have been injured or even killed while under the ownership of Trainers."

"That's pretty open-minded." White laughed a little. "I've never really wondered that, especially the abusive part of it. Honestly, I'm not sure myself." She clenched a fist, and suddenly, determination flooded into her eyes. "That's why I want to find out. I wanted to become a Trainer to see how many Pokémon there are in this world. Maybe I can make friends with them all!" She paused for a moment, before sighing, seeming to calm down a little. "Or not, but I can try, right?"

"That just means more Pokémon confined in your Pokéballs." N was now beginning to get slightly annoyed at her ignorance to the situation they were currently in. "I will not allow that. My ideals will become a reality before your very eyes!"

At that point, the ride screeched to a halt, and the two climbed out of the ride and landed back on the ground, both a little confused at what had just happened.

"Lord N!"

White suddenly realised the reality of the situation when the word "Lord" hit her ears, and she twirled around quickly to see the grunt she'd seen harassing the old man previously, plus another running towards them, both looking terrified.

"You are safe!" the one on the right breathed.

"Do not worry," replied N, giving them a reassuring smile. "I am fine. You are part of the people I brought in to help save the Pokémon, so you are under my protection. Go, now, let my battle cover your retreat." He then turned to White, who was staring at the conversation between the three with her mouth hanging open. "White, do you follow my logic?"

"…"

"White?"

"You freaking _jerk_," White snarled, pulling out Lillipup's Pokéball. "No, I don't follow your logic! I haven't been following it all along! Let's just get this over with so I can crush you and your Plasma _idiots _into the ground!" She threw Lillipup's Pokéball into the air, revealing her Pokémon, which wasn't looking happy and playful like it usually would, but was instead growling at N, showing her tiny, yet still sharp enough teeth.

"She seems to be feeling your anger," said N simply, pulling out his own Pokéball. "She shouldn't feel emotions just because you feel them. It's unbelievable." He threw his Pokéball into the air and sent out a Sandile.

"Lillipup, use Tackle!" White's words were punctuated by anger and annoyance. Why'd she been so soft on him? She should have murdered him while she had the chance. But right now, she had a chance, and she wasn't going to waste it. Luckily, for the remainder of her sanity, Lillipup's attack hit, though this just worked her up more, but at least it didn't make her angrier.

"Sandile, use Bite," commanded N. Sandile leaped into the air and bit down onto Lillipup. Or rather, the air where Lillipup used to be, as the puppy had jumped out of the way and dodged the attack.

"Lillipup, use Take Down!"

Due to White's anger, the battle against Sandile really didn't last long, and N's first Pokémon was taken down in a few more turns.

"Sigilyph, you're up next," said N, revealing his next Pokémon, which materialised into the air in the form of red light and appeared as a solid form before them.

"Lillipup, return!" called White, withdrawing her Pokémon before it could get more worked up. "Now, you're up, Tranquill!"

"Sigilyph, use Psybeam!" A ray of colourful, zigzagging light shot through the air towards Tranquill, but the bird Pokémon shot into the air before it could be hit, though he was closely followed by Sigilyph, who flew up into the air after Tranquill.

"Psybeam again, Sigilyph!"

"Dodge with Detect, Tranquill!"

Tranquill's eyes glowed green and he avoided the incoming attack with a sudden burst of blinding speed. It then shot an Air Cutter attack at Sigilyph, who got hit head-on, but still managed to stay in the air.

"Finish it with Gust, Tranquill!" yelled White, jabbing a finger into the air at Sigilyph, who was then blown through the air and knocked to the ground with the gust of powerful wind. Tranquill cooed triumphantly, but White kept her concentration on the battle.

"Well, I'm surprised to say your Pokémon look happy," called N, returning his Sigilyph. "It's a rare sight to see, especially since they're battling. They're determined, as you are, too, but they still have fun. I don't understand…"

"Get on with it!" interrupted White, returning Tranquill and sending out Dewott. "I want to get his over with so I can go and murder your little underlings!"

"Fine, Darumaka, it's your turn, please."

"Dewott, stand guard!"

Within another few minutes, White had defeated N for the third time since she'd met him, and her anger had calmed down, but she still felt a little bit of annoyance boiling up inside of her. Her fists were still clenched, but she could feel them loosening up little-by-little. N looked down, shaking his head and staring at the ground in shame.

"You are quite strong, but I have a future I must change," said N. "And for that future…" He stepped forward, so he was standing over White. She'd never stood this close to him, and the height comparison she could feel was uncanny. "I will defeat the Champion and become unlike any other. I'll make all Trainers free their Pokémon, just try to stop me. If you want to be together with Pokémon, then your only hope is to collect the eight gym badges and head for the Pokémon League. Try to stop me there, if you dare."

He then turned around and left, leaving the now shaking with rage White standing and staring at him. After a few seconds, however, she calmed down, relooking the events that had happened in her head.

"I do dare…" she whispered. "But… why me? Did he… did he just taunt me? It's like he wants me to defeat him." She shook her head. "Weirdo."

-.-.-

That night, she had dreams. Not like the dreams she had before, though. These were totally different. The dreams she'd had that night were from N's point of view. He was crying, staring at an abused Pokémon, a Purrloin, to be exact. It was lying limply on the floor, bloody and bruised, still as a statue, not even breathing. Ghetsis was standing behind it, staring with what was obviously fake sorrow and staring at N. He then picked up the dead Pokémon and walked away, leaving N standing there, his tears dripping onto the ground.

Then, an image of Ghetsis came into White's head. He was smirking to himself while carrying the Purrloin. Then White realised something.

She woke up, breathing heavily, her heart pounding. She'd just realised what Ghetsis had done to N as a child, even though the images were having trouble setting completely into her brain, she still had a fuzzy image of what his childhood might have been like.

"_I've seen Pokémon be abused. I know they're not treated well when they have battles. They're not looked after by their Trainers. They look so sad. I've never seen a Pokémon look happy while they're under the ownership of a Trainer. It sickens me."_

His childhood had been primarily around abused Pokémon, that's what she now got from recalling what N had said, anyway. But was it really the Trainers who had abused that poor Purrloin all those years ago? Was it really killed by the Trainer, or was it by someone else?

"We both had pretty weird childhoods," muttered White absentmindedly, staring at her hands as if they held the answers to everything. "Maybe… maybe we aren't too different after all."

What she would soon find out, though, was that no two people could be as different as the two, yet no two people could have more in common.

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**Misa: Whoop whoop! I finished, and I'm glad, too, now I can go to bed… anyway, make sure to make me super happy by leaving a review, and I'll be sure to post again soon. Until then, stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	17. Thoughts and Feelings

**Pokémon Black and White**

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**Bianca: Hi, everyone! Misa's not here today, so we're going to do the little introduction disclaimer thingy.**

**White: Are you sure she's not going to show up?**

**Bianca: Oh, don't be such a worrywart. She's not here, so she probably won't show at all.**

**Cheren: If you say so…**

**Misa: *Enters* Hey, guys, I finished the chapter!**

**Bianca: Ah, crud… um, so, enjoy the chapter, guys!**

**Misa: Hey, that's my line!**

**Bianca: Come on, I **_**never **_**get the spotlight!**

**Misa: I write the whole story! This part wouldn't exist if I wasn't here!**

**Bianca: Ignore her, she's crazy!**

**Misa: I do not approve!**

**Bianca: Misa doesn't own Pokémon!**

**White: *Sweatdrops* Told you she'd show up… Uh, just read and enjoy, readers…**

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White woke early the next morning, her hair hanging in a tangled mess over her face. Frustrated with it, she groaned and pulled it out of the way of her sight so she could see the first few rays of light in the morning, the natural sunlight that she'd gotten no where near enough of the previous night. Instead, it was the city lights that had been showing her the way, though there was something about it that wasn't quite good enough.

Though she had gotten decent sleep that night, her head still spun with the thoughts of the events that had happened. Even now she was trying to convince herself that it was a dream. She _wanted _it to be a dream, but she knew that no matter how foggy the memory was in her head, it had been perfectly real. It certainly didn't feel like it. She knew she didn't like N, not in the slightest, but she definitely didn't see him as a king, let alone the king of the evil organisation she absolutely despised and wanted nothing more than to get rid of. He just seemed too… _nice_. No matter how much White disliked him, he definitely wasn't a horrible person, especially towards Pokémon. That was one of the very few things she respected about him, maybe even more so now that she knew his real ambitions. She just couldn't get her head around why on earth he would be in league with Ghetsis of all people.

Ah, and Ghetsis. Where did she start with him? White had only met him briefly, but just from those few meetings she could tell he was a horrible person. Whether or not he actually had his mind on the somewhat selfless plan of Pokémon liberation was undetermined. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure she would ever find out what his real ambition was, no matter how nosy she was in his awful affairs. Because of this, she found herself feeling a whole new level of sympathy for N than she had ever felt before, or even thought she would ever feel.

All she did know now was that her battles with N were no longer pointless rival battles, but could actually end up deciding the fate of the Unova region. She didn't like to think that, and she tried to convince herself that someone else would come along and try to meddle with their plans. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like anyone had dug as far into the situation as she had, and it was just as unfortunate that she would find it pretty hard to turn back now, especially with N popping up at random, inconvenient times all over the place.

White sighed, her head spinning even more through all of the thoughts overloading her brain at the time. She shook them out of her head, feeling like if she did, everything would just go away. Naturally they didn't, but it did give her enough reality time to realise that she was brushing her hair with her toothbrush.

"Stupid thing," she grumbled, hitting the troublesome contraption on the sink as if it would make all her problems go away, before throwing it onto the shelf and proceeding to wash a glob of toothpaste out of her hair. "Nice going, White, real smart." She huffed, pouting her lip as she decided to give up on getting the knot out of her hair and focus on shoving it into the middle of her ponytail so that it wasn't noticeable. This wasn't hard, obviously, as her hair was already bushy enough to begin with.

After a good half hour in the bathroom, messing up pretty much every possible thing she could possible mess up, she finally stepped out of her room in the Pokémon Center, feeling much fresher and morning-ready as she had been feeling, the thoughts of N pretty much totally gone from her mind, which was probably better for the little remains of sanity she had left.

"Hi, White."

White looked up to see a calm-looking Cheren and a much less calm-looking Bianca walking (and bounding) up to her.

"Jeez, you're fast," said Bianca, rushing up to her and grabbing her arm. "You were long gone by the time Cheren and I got to Nimbasa, but you're not escaping us again. Nope, you're sticking with us!"

"Or you can injure yourself before we leave the Pokémon Center." Cheren sighed, scratching his head. "Bianca wants to go to the hell on earth that is the Pokémon Musical."

"Come on, Cheren, It'll be fun!" Bianca sang, twirling around, dragging White around with her. "They get Pokémon dress up in cute costumes and they dance and sing and they look adorable!"

"That's why I don't want to visit it." Cheren was apparently relatively annoyed at the decision, though his facial expressions didn't show it, as he still had the usual dull, monotonous face that was usually wiped across it.

"I'll go if you go," said White, chuckling slightly at the difference between her friends' attitudes. Bianca cheered and bounded off ahead if the two, leaving White standing next to Cheren. "Just don't leave me alone with her," she muttered to him. Cheren nodded and the two high-fived, before rushing after the joyful blonde.

Nimbasa looked different during the day. At night, there was some creepy air to it that White couldn't explain. The unnatural lighting coming from the street lamps didn't seem to make the place any less eerie than it would have been if it were pitch black. The city seemed brighter and happier with the sun lighting it up and the happy chatters of the people brightening the mood. It made White somewhat happier, too, though it was also good knowing that N was probably long gone by now and she didn't need to worry about that for a while. Hopefully, anyway, if she did, she thought, her head would probably explode.

Luckily, the happy, bubbly attitude of Bianca was good enough to keep her mind off of any bad thoughts, and she found herself laughing quite a bit at her attitude towards anything bad. However, it didn't seem like Cheren felt the same, as his face showed that spending one more minute with Bianca dragging him around restlessly would be the ultimate death of him. This happened rather a lot with the three friends, and White noticed how much being in Nimbasa with Cheren and Bianca reminded her of playing as kids in Nuvema. Cheren had always been relatively safe, not wanting to go too far with things. This often caused arguments with Bianca, who was somewhat reckless and adventurous. White had always been the one who had to break them up whenever they fought, but she didn't exactly mind. At first, it almost drove her insane, but eventually it became a daily routine and she got used to it.

The next sight, however, snapped her out of her childhood thoughts, well, the ones of Cheren and Bianca anyway. This brought her to a whole new level of childhood memories. Memories involving a cousin, to be exact. Her eyes darted to a boy standing at the entrance to the Battle Subway, a place White had forced her friends come to after they watched the Pokémon Musical in action. His hair was dark brown and shaggy, part of it flattened down by a blue and white cap that sat atop of his head.

"Black!" she shrieked, causing the boy's eyes to dart over to her. Once he saw her, he raised a confused eyebrow, but his eyes had brightened somewhat in recognition. When she came closer, the corners of his mouth curled up into a smile.

"Long time no see, White." He laughed a little, adjusting his cap and flashing a grin. White leaped over and flung her arms around his neck.

"I haven't seen you in ages!" she said, once she'd released him from the hug. "Not since I was ten! What're you doing in Unova? I thought you were taking your journey in Sinnoh, why would you come all the way over here."

"Cool it with the questions," said Black, catching his breath from the bone-crushing hug, almost enough to compare to Bianca's. "Okay, I started my journey about a year ago. I began in Sinnoh, but it already knew everything there, so there wasn't much new that I could discover. Then I remembered you live in Unova, and that I'd been here before, so it wouldn't be too much of a big move, so I decided to come here."

"How long have you been here?" asked White, her mouth still showing a delighted smile.

"Only about a month, I was planning on going and visiting you when I got here, but I got caught up in some crazy ordeal." He looked up at the sky, blocking the remains of the sun that his had didn't block with his hand. "Ever heard of Team Plasma?"

White's eyes widened quickly. "Yeah, too much for my liking," she scowled, her thoughts being forced back to the previous night. "Where did you see them?"

"Pretty much everywhere." Black shrugged, rolling his eyes slightly. "They pop up at random times. Some guy called Ghetsis decided to give some stupid speech at Icirrus City. It made Brycen pretty darn mad, too."

"White!" called Cheren and Bianca simultaneously, both of them having grown sick of waiting for White to come back to them and had decided to go and get her back themselves.

"Who's your friend?" asked Bianca, eyeing Black with significant interest in her eyes.

"This is Black," announced White, waving a hand in the direction of the boy. "He's my cousin from Sinnoh."

"Wow, Sinnoh!" Bianca's mouth dropped open in awe. "You must have some pretty cool Pokémon then!"

"I guess so, but I'm not going to bring them all out in the middle of the street." Black laughed, adjusting his cap. Cheren raised an eyebrow, stepping up between the two cousins and fixing his glasses, before staring back and forth between the two.

"So, you're called White, and your cousin's called Black," he said, as if trying to get the facts straight. White and Black nodded in sync, their faces showing signs of curiosity, as if not quite grasping exactly what Cheren was saying. The blue-haired boy smacked his forehead at their ignorance. "Black and White," he repeated, though the other two still didn't seem to understand. He sighed impatiently. "Basically, your parents aren't very creative when it comes to names, and Black, you're even more like White than I expected."

"How am I like her?" he said, still matching his equally-as-confused cousin's face. "I'm a guy!"

Cheren smacked his forehead and zoned out of the rest of the conversation.

-.-.-

"_That's what yah get for blabbing, N." _Zorua shook his head impatiently. N walked next to him, though his face was emotionless. His eyes were neither happy nor sad, but more in deep thought than anything. His brain relived the past nights memories.

"I wanted to tell someone," he said simply, not really looking where he was going and nearly kicking Zorua out of the way. Luckily they'd left Nimbasa the previous night and were already on the way to Driftveil or he'd probably have caused a human traffic jam on the streets by now. "White just seemed… appropriate."

"_How did she of all people seem, as you say, 'appropriate'_," Zorua replied, his voice mocking N's when he said the last word. "_She's the enemy! She wants your team gone more than anything. How did she seem appropriate! She could ruin your plans!"_

At this, N refused to reply any more than a single, half-hearted grunting sound, which barely managed to make its way out of his mouth.

"_Hang on… Maybe, you want a challenge?"_

More silence from the more human of the two.

"_That's it, I've got it!" _Zorua pointed at him, though his paw came out more as a stop sign than a point as he lacked the opposable thumbs to hold his remaining claws down. "_I'm right, aren't I? You don't want this to be easy, so you hoped to get a bit of a challenge from her."_

"I do not want a challenge," grumbled N, his voice now rising back to feeling, showing a little bit of frustration. "I hoped my plans would come across easily. I just… think she deserved to know. She's been through enough because of me. Would it really have made a difference whether she knew or not? She was already fighting me."

"_When it's White you're saying this about, I don't think that theory quite works,"_ said Zorua, his tail twitching slightly in irritation. "_You saw her last night, right? She acted like a Gyarados on a rampage! She could have destroyed anything in her path, and it was all because what you told her had sunk in." _He paused for a moment, stopping his walking as well. N soon realised this and stopped a few metres in front of him. "_Actually, she did take it pretty well on the Ferris wheel. I mean, she had the perfectly good opportunity to kill you right then and there, but I guess she chose not to." _

N made another grunting noise before he continued walking, apparently in deep thought over something, probably some intense mathematical equation that would seem insignificant to anyone else but was perfectly normal in his mind.

"_Maybe she was the right person…"_ Zorua shook his head, before following quickly along after N.

-.-.-

"C'mon, cuz! I haven't seen you in years!" White whined, grabbing Black by the arm. "We have to look around Nimbasa together." She grinned, turning her head to the amusement park.

"Cheren and Bianca just went there." Black sighed, ruffling his hair. "Can't we have gone with them?"

"Nope," said White simply, but before Black could ask why, she giggled a little and made a small heart shape with her fingers. Black seemed to take awhile to grasp the meaning of it, but then realised perfectly well.

"Are you sure? They don't seem like a very… natural pair."

"They're not, but their fighting is just like a husband and wife's," sang White. "Besides, I'm a pro matchmaker."

"Please, you don't know a thing about romance…"

Black's comment was drowned out when White grabbed his arm and dragged him into the amusement park, singing something along the lines of, "Cheren and Bianca sitting in a tree," and giggling like a madman.

"Besides," she chirped, rushing through the arch at the entrance to the amusement park. "When they have something to distract them from every single little thing they could possibly argue about, they actually get along pretty well."

"Fair enough."

White laughed at the comment, glad to finally have Black on her side, though something told her he didn't really have any interest in her _attempted _matchmaking. Luckily for him, White had no plans on going anywhere near her two best friends any time soon, as she was more interested in her own activities.

Black, on the other hand, wasn't expecting to have a half decent time, but he actually didn't mind spending time with his younger cousin. When she got excited, it usually drove him mental, but as he got older he noticed he was having an easier time accepting her constant mood swings. One minute she'd be delighted, and the next minute she would be so angry that you wouldn't dare go near her.

Speaking of mood swings…

"Come on, White, I want to go and check out the rollercoaster in the…" Black paused mid-sentence when he noticed that White was no longer following him. Instead, she was standing perfectly still at the entrance to the Ferris wheel, her eyes glassy and almost emotionless, though there was a hint of sorrow in them that Black couldn't quite understand. He walked cautiously up to her and looking in the general direction that she had been looking. Before he could speak, she let a pile of words come tumbling out of her mouth that Black had a feeling weren't aimed directly at him, though he couldn't quite figure out what exactly she was saying. What he did notice, however, was that one specific letter kept popping up in the jumbled up sentences she was speaking: N.

White's mind, on the other hand, was oblivious to the fact that Black was standing next to her. Her thoughts were entirely on the previous night.

"_I am the king of Team Plasma."_

Okay, so N _was _the king of Team Plasma. She knew that, so why was she taking it so hard? Really, she shouldn't have thought any different of him. He was still the creepy stalker that popped up everywhere, so why was she thinking about him so much? She would still battle him. She would still make fun of him. And she still hated him. Well, that last part was starting to show a little doubt in her mind. _Did _she hate him? What is the definition of hate? If she truly hated him, she wouldn't even be considering whether or not she actually did hate him or not. If she did hate him, it would be set in stone in her mind and she would only think of him as a person she wanted to murder.

But she didn't think that. Instead, her mind showed more of a neutral feeling to the strange boy. She didn't hate him, but she didn't necessarily like him. What she did know was that she felt a little more, _slightly _more -emphasise the "slightly"- friendly to him right now.

"_Ghetsis asked me to work with him to save the Pokémon_."

Did she really need to question this part? Ghetsis didn't seem like someone who wanted to save Pokémon. N, on the other hand, did, and White already knew that, otherwise he would have used that Purrloin in more than one battle before releasing it.

"_I wonder how many Pokémon there are in this world?"_

True, it was a huge mystery how many different species of Pokémon existed all around the world. Just now, she'd heard about the fact that scientists were researching the far away Kalos region, where many new Pokémon had already been discovered.

Still, anyone else could think that that sentence was pointless. Not White, though. The way he said it. The way it came out of that stupid little mouth of his was different to the way it would come out of anyone else's mouth, such as a scientist's, for example. His voice showed true wonder, a tone that White wasn't sure anyone else could achieve. It also showed signs of pure innocence, like child who'd lost their toy, but then again, never owned the toy in the first place. It made White's heart twist, partly because of the fact that she was finally realising part of who N was (though she wouldn't admit this to herself) and partly because White couldn't stand children. Generally, she couldn't stand N either, so if you put the two together it might drive her partially insane.

But now she could practically see the signs of childhood in N, like she was reading his mind. But even then, children didn't have as much ambition as he did. N's mind was more of a mix between young and old, not quite meeting in the middle, but White didn't know where it met exactly. The way he talked showed signs of extreme intelligence, and she never doubted that he probably had an extremely, almost _abnormally _high IQ. But it also showed innocence, cautiousness, and, somehow, made visible that he must have had a rather locked up childhood. His eyes, when he spoke, were somewhat soulless, like he didn't quite know how to show emotion. But he did anyway, well, his face did, but his eyes remained the same shade of green no matter what.

Yes, she'd gotten all of that off of one sentence, and half of it shouldn't have even had relevance. He was just asking how many Pokémon there are, for Arceus sake, so why was she thinking about all of this?

Then she realised.

Maybe she _did _care for him slightly. Maybe everything her mind had been telling her about her hating him had been wrong. Maybe she wanted to help him.

Even then, it would be hard to help someone when you want nothing more than to destroy their somewhat messed up dreams.

-.-.-

"_Why're we stopping, N?" _asked Zorua, his tail twitching curiously. N didn't look back, his eyes fixed on the road ahead of him. The tricky fox Pokémon didn't know what he was looking at exactly, but he had a sneaking suspicion of who it could be, and he didn't like the idea one bit.

At that point, three shadowy figures appeared in front of them, all looking identical, with white hair covered by black hoods. The rest of their bodies, aside from their mouths, were clad in black. Their eyes were pure black, showing no emotion what-so-ever. They looked rather out of place on such a sunny day, but they didn't seem to care. Maybe they did, but their faces didn't show it. Anyone walking past didn't seem to notice the three, but they did shoot N strange looks, like he was talking to thin air. In a way, he was, as the three failed to be seen by others.

"My lord," they chorused, kneeling down simultaneously. They sounded like robots, their voices all sounding exactly the same. Even their movements were slightly robotic, like they had a set of commands they had to follow precisely, almost as if they were being controlled. "We came when you called."

"Yes," muttered N, looking around absentmindedly, causing more odd stared from people to be shot at him. "I need you to do something for me." He looked back in the direction of Nimbasa before continuing, not looking back at the three. "You are the Shadow Triad. You cannot be seen, so who better than you do I ask to keep an eye on someone for me?"

Zorua jumped back, looking between the Shadow Triad and N a few times, his eyes widened in shock. "_W-what, N, she already thinks you stalk her. Now you would be literally stalking her!"_

"I do not care," said N simply, ignoring the tiny fox. "I need to find out more about her. About her friends. About her journey. I need to know it all."

"_I'm not sure 'need' is the word you should be using there," _muttered Zorua, though N didn't seem to hear as his attention was already turned back to the Shadow Triad.

"I want you to follow a girl named White," he explained, looking around cautiously as if she would pop up right behind him at that very second. "She's a very… interesting girl. I need to find out more about her, and also about her friends."

"We have heard of the one you speak of," said the three. They only ever spoke at the same time, as if their voices were programmed together. "Ghetsis speaks of her. He says horrible things of her. He calls her an annoying brat. Why would you want to follow her? Ghetsis said he wants to ignore her completely, as if she will go away if he does."

"Well, Ghetsis isn't the king of Team Plasma, is he?" N turned back to the three, though his voice didn't sound impatient in the slightest like most people's tone would be by now. "And I know for a fact that White isn't one to back down just because she has been ignored. If anything it will only make her more curious. That is why I cannot have anyone else watch her but you three. I can assure you that if anyone else watches her and is seen, they will not live to see another day."

"Is the girl really that fierce?"

"She certainly is rather feisty," said N, laughing a little under his breath. "In a way, however, she is calm and considerate. The formulas do not seem to add up like they should. They do not have a set answer. That is why I need to know more about her. You will report anything interesting back to me. Understood?"

"Yes, my lord N," spoke the three, before vanishing into thin air and out of sight. N nodded slightly.

"Good," he said under his breath.

-.-.-

"White!"

White snapped back to reality at her cousin's rather urgent voice in her ear.

"I'm up!" she yelled, almost falling over backwards, though she managed to steady herself on the nearby fence that surrounded the Ferris wheel and blocked anyone from sneaking on. "Oh, hey, Black."

Black sweatdropped. "What were you thinking about?" he asked, curiosity coating his tone, almost enough so that it seemed to drip out of his mouth.

"Nothing much," said White, though the way she said it said otherwise for Black.

"Alright." He sighed, deciding he shouldn't ask about what went on in the teenagers head when she wasn't speaking. If she wanted to come clean, she would, otherwise she wouldn't dare no matter how much convincing he gave her.

"Time?" asked White, pointing at the area on her arm where her watch would sit if she owned one.

"Four-thirty-two," answered Black, checking his own watch.

"Got it," said White. "Let's get back to the Pokémon Center, shall we? Cheren and Bianca might be there waiting for us."

And with that, the two left the amusement park, though not without a few backwards glances at the Ferris wheel from White.

-.-.-

Meanwhile, a different green-haired individual sat on a chair in a large room in the middle of the castle he lived in. His face showed a hint of boredom, as if he'd been waiting for someone for long enough now. The monocle over his eye glinted in the dim light of the room every time he moved his head. His hands were clasped together on his desk, his fingers stroking his knuckles out of sheer impatience. Unlike N, this green-haired man looked cold and bitter, though not quite angry. You'd like to hope that he wasn't angry, too, as when he got angry, all hell broke loose. He didn't get angry over things like this, however. He had much better things to do than rage over waiting for the Shadow Triad. Why should he rage when he knew they would be there any moment now?

Sure enough, the three black figures appeared in front of him. The three bowed almost as soon as their feet hit solid ground, though it was almost like they were still floating in the air. Ghetsis' free eye widened, the other one covered by his monocle, though his eyebrow twitched slightly, showing that the opposite eye could move, too.

"Ghetsis, we have come," they chorused, the rest of their bodies perfectly still other than their jaws moving up and down as they spoke.

"Good." Ghetsis didn't complain about them being late. He knew that the three wouldn't care anyway. If he did yell at them, they would remain emotionless, barely even taking in the words he said. He'd tried before, but it had just turned out to be a pointless waste or time and energy.

"What do you ask of us?"

"What do you think?" spat Ghetsis, now seeming to become a little impatient. "I told you before you went to see N. I want to know what he asked of you."

"He told us to follow a girl."

Ghetsis froze. "What girl is this, exactly?"

"I think her name was White. You have spoken of her before, I believe."

At that point, Ghetsis' mouth curled up into a cruel smirk, his eyes squinting. He didn't seem angry that this "White" girl was still meddling in their plans. Instead, he seemed almost amused by it. At first glance, she didn't seem overly impressive or strong. It appeared now, however, that he'd been wrong. He laughed a little under his breath, just loud enough for the Shadow Triad to hear.

"Well, this is just getting interesting now, isn't it?"

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**Misa: Ghetsis scares me… he's a generally creepy character though, so I guess that's a good thing. I sometimes wonder what he does in the games when he's sitting in the castle and the protagonist isn't looking. That's why I like writing those scenes. If this game wasn't a children's game, it would probably be pretty twisted in terms of antagonists and back stories. Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter. Also, thank you to all the people who've reviewed and/or followed/favourited this story. You guys are awesome! Anyway, keep those reviews coming, they make me feel special. ^_^**


	18. I Promise

**Pokémon: Black and White**

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**Misa: Hey, update! Yeah, I finally finished this chapter, and it's a long one, too! I guess that's a good thing, right? Anyway, I was planning on getting more chapters up this school holidays, but I decided to take a short break. I've been working on this story pretty much non-stop when I'm not working or at school for the past six months since I posted the first chapter, so quite frankly I needed a break. I'm not going to write well if I'm bored doing it anyway (and if I'm being constantly distracted by Animal Crossing: New Leaf…) but here it is, chapter eighteen (wow, am I really that far into it?) Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Misa doesn't own Pokémon. She also doesn't own Elesa's cool headphone thingies. Oh, well, can't have everything…**

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_White was flying, soaring through the air like a bird. Her eyes were shut tight, but somehow she knew where she was going. She was going so fast that if she opened her eyes they would probably water uncontrollably before drying out completely, but she didn't mind keeping them shut. She felt so much freer that way, not having to worry about where she was going. She just went with the wind, like a cloud. It didn't matter where she was going. The sky was a brilliant blue. The air on her face was cool and crisp, though not too crisp so that is cut into her face when she turned it on a certain angle. Why worry about where she was going when she already had all of this?_

_Even if she did worry, she wasn't sure she would be able to actually control where she was going anyway. She wasn't controlling it now. She was just floating in the air, not a concern in her head. She didn't even know how she was flying, but she couldn't open her eyes to check. Not that she didn't want to, but she actually couldn't. She didn't mind, though, because if she did worry about insignificant little details like that, the moment would be ruined. She'd spent far too long thinking about things, worrying about her life. Now, she could finally wind down._

_It's a carefree place, the sky. She thought it was, anyway. There is nothing up there, of course, so there's nothing to bother her. Of course, most regular people wouldn't know the feeling of being up in the sky, flying through the air and not worrying about any complications going on with their lives. Maybe in dreams, but they are just dreams, so they always come to an end faster than we think. Not for White, though. For her, it felt eternal, like time had stopped permanently. Everything was bright and there was nothing to disturb her. She could stay up there forever and not have to worry about anything anymore. Not about Team Plasma. Not about N or Ghetsis. Just her and the sky._

_Of course, nothing lasts forever._

_She didn't realise it at first, as her eyes were still tightly shut in a state of bliss, but the sky was slowly becoming a dull grey, slowly growing darker and darker until the blue sky was gone, covered up by nothing but pure darkness. Her eyes didn't open for a while, as the sounds stayed the same, as did the fresh smell of the air. But this slowly began to change as it felt more moist to her previously dry nose. She disregarded it as a little humidity caused by clouds. Of course, it was, but not the clouds she thought they were. She meant white clouds, fluffy and pure, like a pillow made of a pile of fairy floss. These clouds, however, were the exact opposite._

_The clouds seemed to symbolise something. Something that feels sickeningly like evil, like a power-hungry villain, or a monster thirsting for blood. These things shouldn't appear in the sky, though, so once again, White disregarded the feeling as nothing. That is, until a raindrop decided to plop onto her head. It felt heavy as her body had been light as a feather before and didn't have to carry any weight other than its own. It was light enough so that even the tiny drop of weight such as the raindrop would weigh it down enough to shock her. She opened her eyes, but she didn't feel the cold air ripping into her exposed flesh. Instead, she fell almost at ease when she opened her eyes because she could finally see where she was. Unfortunately, where she was wasn't a pretty place._

_She looked up to see nothing but darkness, the clouds swirling around and the occasional clap of thunder that vibrated through the atmosphere and almost shook her off… wait, she was on something? Sure enough, she looked down to see that she was sitting on a great white dragon-like creature, but it was so big that she couldn't see what exactly it was in one single view. The rapidly increasing amount of rain also blurred out her vision. Not only did it make her surroundings look blurred and distorted, but the heavy drops also hit her eyes and made them sting with cold. She shook her head to try to get her vision back to normal, but in doing this she suddenly realised how fast she was flying, like everything that she should have been feeling previously was coming back to her in one big rush. She didn't feel free anymore like she had before. Quite the opposite, actually, as she felt more locked up than anything. She wasn't free to fly wherever she wanted anymore. The wind didn't direct her. Instead, the dragon she sat upon was controlling where she was going._

_Out of a mix of fear and pure instinct, she shut her eyes tight once more to stop the stinging feeling of freezing air and ice-cold shards of rain slashing into them and gripped the dragon's skin. It felt rather odd, a mix between tough leather and soft feathers. Without her eyes open, she couldn't quite tell what exactly it was, though it felt like some odd mix between a bird and a lizard. At this point, however, she didn't really care what it was. All she knew was that the skin was the one thing holding her shivering form back from falling to certain doom._

_She wasn't sure whether to scream or to feel relieved when the clouds started to break apart. She had opened her eyes when the loud rumble of thunder vibrated her eardrums and forced her eyes to open. Though when she saw that the thing causing the massive split down the middle of the cloud was a magnificent bolt of electric blue lightning, her already heavy breath got caught in her throat. Her heart dropped to her stomach when she realised that the bolt was charging straight for her. Almost out of instinct, she screamed for the dragon to fly down and dodge the bolt. To her surprise and ultimate relief, it obeyed. She opened her eyes when she felt herself plummeting down on the dragon, the bolt of lightning only missing her by barely a few feet._

_The split in the clouds continued to grow, and soon there was enough room for a large black dragon to come flying out of it, causing the hole to grow in size. It roared and charged down at her, its body charging up with blue lightning. White screamed, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She knew this was it. This was the end. Her eyes shut tightly, causing them to water due to the pain she had to put her muscles through in order to close them that tightly. A lightning bolt shot towards her, a bright blue, the same colour as the sky had been previously before the clouds had rolled in. She didn't need to see it in order to know how close it was to her. Time was going slowly, and every millisecond she had was precious, each one feeling like a minute rather than a fraction of a second. She could feel the pressure emitting from the electricity, ripping apart the air particles as it crashed down to her, ready to send her to her ultimate doom._

_White's world seemed to freeze, and she couldn't quite capture who the figure sitting on the back of the black dragon was before she felt the sizzling feeling of the bolt smashing into her, burning her skin and boiling her blood. To her surprise, she didn't feel pain. Much less than that, actually. Surprisingly, as she crashed into darkness, she felt the same, blissful, carefree feeling she had felt when she was floating on her own. But this time, she wasn't flying. She was falling._

_-.-.-_

She awoke with sweat casing her face, thick and cold enough to make it feel like it was caused by the rain in her dream. It made her shiver, a cold feeling instantly running across her face as if being wiped across it with a solid, cold rag that was slowly falling apart, the ripped apart strands rubbing against her raw face. She sat up, shaking her head. "Stupid dreams…" she grumbled. Admittedly, the flying part of it was fun. But as soon as she'd found herself on the dragon it was different. She remembered the terror pulsing through her mind and the way her stomach leapt every time the dragon turned a corner.

"That damn book is getting to me," she said, recalling the book she'd taken from the old abandoned library in Castelia. That night, she had finished reading about to twin heroes and their respective dragons, and since then she couldn't get the thoughts out of her head. She'd dreamt that she was the hero. That was what she narrowed it down to, anyway, but she passed it off as just a dream, nothing more. Dreams aren't real, she thought, that's why they're called dreams. If they were real, she'd probably be lying in the middle of nowhere at the moment, her body not even able to move enough to get her heart beating.

Anyway, it wasn't like she hadn't had dreams before. It had been since the start of her journey that she'd been having them for. Perhaps it was just that her mind was overrun with thoughts that she'd been reading. No doubt, since she left, she'd been hearing way too much about Team Plasma and the story of the twin heroes, so that probably didn't help.

Speaking of Team Plasma, she wondered how far they'd gone since they had left Nimbasa. Or-and she hoped to Arceus that this wasn't the case-they hadn't left at all. She didn't want to think about anything to do with Team Plasma since she'd heard who the leader of it all was. Especially since she was in the city filled with probably the most fun she would have in a while.

_Fun…_ she thought. Admittedly, she hadn't had fun in awhile, which was annoying to her when she thought about it. Sure, she played with her Pokémon and trained with them, but that was more for their benefit than for her own. She wanted them to have as good a time as possible while they were with her, so she often took time out of her training schedule to play games with them. This, of course, had become a general, daily thing to. it was fun for her, except for the fact that it usually ended in a search for Lillipup that the whole team—that is, herself, Dewott and Tranquill—had to take part in, usually ending in White having to apologise around twenty times to a poor local family that had had most of the sandwiches in their picnic eaten by a strange girl's dog. Okay, so that only happened once, but other things had happened that White would have rather not thought about again.

White, on the other hand, hadn't had a decent day to have some fun that wasn't part of her daily schedule. In Nimbasa, however, she felt like she was on holidays. Like she could kick up her feet, rip up her schedule, and do whatever she liked. Of course, she still had a Gym to train for, but that could wait. This was an odd thing for White to think, and the previous day Cheren had asked if she was sick. She didn't usually like staying in one town too long. For her, it was get to the town, get the gym badge, then leave, never to go back there ever again. There was so much to do in Nimbasa, however, that leaving within a time span of two days wasn't an option.

That's it; fun. Fun White hadn't had in awhile. Fun she probably wouldn't get in awhile as long as she was travelling with Pokémon, and as long as she had the personality of an overconfident teenager that thinks she's bulletproof. She took a deep breath, before exhaling quickly and loudly and putting a grin on her face that almost spread from ear-to-ear. Yep, today she would have some fun. She wouldn't think about anything else. Nothing would bother her. She wasn't going to think about Team Plasma or N or her dreams.

Punching the air and letting out a determined "whoop!" White kicked open the door to her room in the Pokémon Center and marched out into the main room, her fist still in the air and a determined look plastered upon her face. She didn't move her gaze from straight ahead of her, not even when she received the strange looks from various people around her. It was like her head was stuck in one direction, but she didn't care. It refused to move, so even if she wanted to turn and set Dewott on them, she couldn't have. Those people didn't understand the definition of "fun", damn it! Well, White's definition of fun, anyway, because any sane person wouldn't see fun as holding a fist up in the air and holding their neck so still they give it a cramp.

Eventually, after exiting the Pokémon Center and finding herself outside, White suddenly realised what the people in the Pokémon Center were staring at her for. She felt her hand go numb from lack of blood, and the feeling was slowly spreading down the rest of her arm. She instantly dropped her arm to her side, cursing to herself and rubbing it, which didn't help as it just reminded her of how much of an idiot she must have just looked.

"Wow, I knew my cousin was crazy."

White jumped, the voice coming from behind her nearly giving her a heart attack. When she turned around, however, the source of the voice definitely wasn't heart attack-worthy. She shook her head as Black burst out laughing, almost toppling over to the floor.

"Arceus, you're an idiot," scowled White, placing her hands on her hips and letting out a frustrated huff. At this, Black stopped laughing and glared at her, stomping a foot on the ground in a somewhat playful manner.

"_I'm _the idiot?" he snapped, rolling his eyes, though by his tone White could tell he was joking. Black never got angry, let alone angry at his own cousin. She'd given him more than enough reasons to hit her in the past, but he never had, so she figured she was safe for now. "And _who _is the talk of the Pokémon Center now for storming out like she was starting a rebellion."

White's face went slightly pink. "Shut up… they'll regret ever laughing at me when I'm the Champion of Unova and I can behead all of them whenever I want."

Black sweatdropped and backed off a little. "Uh, I'm not sure if that's how being the Champion works… besides, aren't we getting a little cocky now?"

"I'll be the Champion, I'll make the rules," said White simply, twirling around in a full circle before placing a firm foot on the ground, grinning widely and somewhat mischievously. Black couldn't help but roll his eyes for the umpteenth time.

"Yes, but _beheading _people, really? There are much easier and less suspicious ways of getting rid of people…" Black stopped When White raised an eyebrow and glared at him. He put his hands up in his defence. "Alright, behead people, just make sure you get the person who cut in line in front of me when I was waiting in line for a room at the Pokémon Center. That guy was a total idiot."

"Deal." White held up a fist and clashed it with Black's.

"Aw, cousinful love!" Bianca came skipping out of the Pokémon Center at that moment, closely followed by Cheren.

"Is cousinful a word?" the male of the two questioned, scratching his head.

"It is now." Bianca shrugged, before waving a dismissive hand. "Don't be such a party-pooper. We're in Nimbasa City! The city of fun! No one cares about smartness here, it's all about _fun_!" The blonde skipped up to Cheren and pinched his cheeks. "Get it? _Fun_!"

"I'll have fun if you get off me." Cheren's words were muffled due to the fact that his cheeks were quickly losing blood and he felt the sudden strong urge to grip Bianca's hand in a death-grip.

"I wouldn't really call it 'love'," interrupted Black, causing Bianca to loosen her grip on Cheren's cheeks and turned to Black, giving Cheren the much awaited for opportunity to rip her hands from his face and let his muscles breathe again. "We were talking about beheading people, so I don't think 'love' is the word to be used here."

"Oh…" muttered Bianca, seeming a little crestfallen. Cheren rolled his eyes and turned to her.

"Could you be _any _more of an idiot today?" he growled. Bianca stepped back and braced herself, before glaring up at him.

"Maybe I could be!" she snapped back, not realising that she had just answered Cheren's two answer question wrong. Luckily for her, Cheren hadn't realised this either.

"Oh, I bet you can't! You're already too stupid! Any stupider and you might explode due to stupidity!"

"You wanna bet on it, freckles?"

"You bet I do… uh, blondy!"

"That's a terrible insult! I may be an idiot, but at least I can insult people!"

"Yeah, well I'm the smart one here, insulting people isn't a skill."

"You wanna bet on that, too?"

"Bring it!"

Then the two stomped, grunted simultaneously, turned in opposite directions and stormed off, leaving Black and White alone once again.

"What the Distortion World?" Black gawked, his mouth hanging open.

"You get used to it. Trust me, being friends with them for ten years helps…" White paused for a moment. "Actually, I'm not sure it does. Maybe I can just tolerate them, but I'm pretty sure I'd be a little more sane if I hadn't have met them."

"Bianca does realise she just admitted she was an idiot about three times in that argument, right?"

"Yeah, but she's been called that so many times by Cheren that it's not much of an insult to her anymore. She doesn't get bothered because she's smart enough to know that if she does get bothered by it, Cheren wins by default."

Black nodded slowly. "Will they be okay?"

White laughed quietly. "Sure thing. We'll probably meet up with them in an hour or so and they'll be acting like nothing has ever happened. Therefore, we'll never know who won the bet. I guess it's fortunate for Cheren, because Bianca has a way of always winning when money is involved…" White raised an eyebrow. "Which would be good for her if she wasn't so clumsy that she loses the money before she gets a chance to spend it." She shrugged simply. "Besides, they've probably forgotten what they're arguing about by now, so there's no need to worry."

"Right…" muttered Black, apparently not entirely convinced, though after a few more moments of thinking he decided to just take her word for it and dismiss the matter entirely.

The two teenagers' attention was turned when the massive big screen on top of the football stadium began flickering on. Previously, the screen had only shown an advertisement for some sort of Pokémon food that apparently gave whatever ate it extra muscle, though it seemed relatively pointless as the only Pokémon who rely on pure muscle for fighting are Fighting-types, and they generally come with an abnormal amount of muscle anyway. After a few seconds, a news reporter appeared, smiling down at everyone watching. White looked around to see that pretty much everyone's attention was turned to the big screen, even young children and Pokémon who didn't really seem to have a clue what was going on.

"This is a special report coming to you live from the Sinnoh Region," began the reporter, and the crowd around Nimbasa instantly broke into mutters and excited whispers. "A young girl of the age of thirteen has conquered the Pokémon League's Elite Four and taken down the Champion, Cynthia, to take her position as the new Champion of Sinnoh!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd, though White wasn't sure why cheering so loudly was entirely necessary. The girl, apparently named "Dawn" as the reporter had stated a few moments later, had taken down the league in a _different _region. Why was it such a big deal over here?

"People get their Pokémon at twelve years old over in Sinnoh," said Black, an almost absentminded tone to his voice, as if he wasn't quite talking to White, but almost as if he was trying to communicate with Arceus or someone else in the sky as he was staring straight up at one cloud in particular. "Still, it's pretty impressive. She would have only been training for a year."

"Wow," stated White, "impressive."

"Sure is." Black let out a whistle of approval, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding.

"I'll be just like her someday!" said White confidently, clenching a fist and holding it in front of her, staring at it determinedly, her eyes full of fire. Black sweatdropped, hoping that his cousin wouldn't get too overconfident. She tended to get way too confident then crash to the ground again when she failed at the thing she was getting confident about.

"Anyway, I'm going to go tr-," _fun,_ "-_ack_ down Bianca and Cheren, yeah, that's what I'm going to do…" White then laughed awkwardly, as if trying to shake the matter off like it had never happened.

Black shook his head. "I get the feeling that's not what you were going to say."

"Shut up."

Around a half-hour later, White and Black stopped in front of the Pokémon Musical theatre. Neither of them was particularly fond of the place; they were both more into training and battling than dressing Pokémon up in "cute" costumes and making them dance around a stage like prissy little princesses. That was how White explained it, anyway. Either way, she figured Bianca would, for once, be easier to track down than Cheren as she had a more set-in-stone series of interests than Cheren did. Due to this, White figured she would be in one of two places—the Pokémon Musical theatre of the amusement park.

"Do we go in, then?" asked Black, turning a lip up at the theatre. They could hear music coming from inside of it, which sounded annoyingly like ballet music.

"I guess so…" Before White could take a step or even finish her sentence, something popped in her bag and, before she knew it, Lillipup was materialising out in front of her, wagging her tail excitedly. She yapped happily, causing White to laugh awkwardly. "Uh, Black, meet Lillipup…"

"She looks… pretty eager, I guess…"

"You don't know the half of it. If Bianca were a Pokémon, then she would be this little thing, other than the fact that my Lillipup has an unhealthy obsession for sandwiches."

"Pup!" yapped Lillipup in agreement, jumping up and down as soon as the word "sandwiches" was said.

"Shouldn't she have evolved by now?" questioned Black, examining the Pokémon with considerable interest. White frowned and crossed her arms.

"I haven't really thought about that…" she muttered. "She's still pretty tough, but I do have three badges…" She then shrugged the question off, dismissing it. "I guess she'll evolve when she wants to. I'm not going to rush her; she is kinda cute, after all. I would like a Herdier, but as I said, she's a toughie."

"What other Pokémon do you have?" asked Black, laughing a little at Lillipup's behaviour—she was now running back and forth between his and White's legs like it was some sort of obstacle course.

"I have a Dewott and a Tranquill. Both of them evolved just fine."

Black frowned and raised an eyebrow. "You do realise the Gym Leader here trains Electric-types, right?"

"Yeah, I was considering catching a Sandile back in the desert, but I knew I would only want it because of the Gym and not because I actually grew attached to the Pokémon or I really needed it. Dewott was my first, so she has a special spot in my heart. Lillipup stole my sandwich and I needed my revenge. Tranquill was a valuable asset in chasing down Team Plasma one day, so it's not like I actually planned on having these three from the start, it sort of just became that way. I don't think if I just caught a Sandile that I would have grown as attached to it."

"I guess so," muttered Black. "Have you got a plan for the Gym, then?"

"We've had type disadvantages before. It's no biggie." White shrugged dismissively, though Black looked rather unsure. One day or another she was going to lose something big due to overconfidence, and he didn't want to be there when she did.

"Alright, but bare in mind this is a Gym leader you'll be up against." He sighed, admitting defeat; she'd have to learn the hard way.

"Let's not waste any more time, then." White sighed. "Bianca has a way of getting away unnoticed, especially in big cities like this."

The two pushed open the door to the musical theatre and instantly began looking around, searching the building for the splash of green and blonde that would hopefully come to them eventually. The previous musical had just finished, so there were a number of people entering and exiting the building, some lining up for the next musical that would show within half-an-hour or so. This made it hard to move around, as after every few steps the two were forced to dodge one or two people without looking like they were cutting in line. Along with this, they also had to keep a close eye out for Lillipup, as she was now trying her hardest to avoid being stepped on while trying to search for the source of the smell of coffee and baked food, which was coming from the small bakery on the side of the building, though it was pretty much empty now as anyone who wanted to buy coffee would have done so a few minutes previously in order to get in line faster.

Growing tired of dodging through crowds and getting yelled at by people for cutting in line—even though the two would have left the line sooner if they hadn't have had to spend the extra time being lectured—the cousins decided to take advantage of the non-existent line to the coffee shop and take a small break. When they got to the cash register in order to buy a coffee each, the lady running the place at the time seemed relatively surprised to have a customer, let alone two. Her eyes instantly widened, though not out of eagerness to serve, more like annoyance that her hour or two break would begin a few seconds later than it usually would have.

"What?" she spat, shooting daggers out of her eyes. Before either of them could answer, she began speaking again. "Hurry up 'n' order already. I haven't got all day!" The majority of the words were mixed into one, such as "all day" sounding more like "allay".

"Two coffees, please," stated White, though she turned her nose up at the lady's attitude. She looked down at Lillipup, who was sniffing towards the direction of the food. White chuckled before saying, "Oh, and a bread roll." They didn't sell sandwiches, but a bread roll was the next best thing. White hoped, anyway, for her Pokémon's sake.

"Coulda said tha' in one session, couldn't yah?" snapped the lady. "I already wrote down yah order."

"Just shut up and do your job," retorted White, though she was prevented from actually insulting her by an elbow from Black. "Thanks." Though her tone wasn't at all thankful at she almost threw the money onto the counter.

"What a bitch," said Black as the two went and took seats to wait for their coffees. Lillipup was now sitting on the ground munching hungrily on her bread.

"Phew, that'll keep her distracted for a bit," said White, relieved to finally be able to rest her feet and not have to worry about getting her body ready to jump up at the last minute in order to chase her Pokémon down once again.

After a few more minutes, sips of coffee, and yells from the cashier about dripping coffee on the tables, therefore making her job ten times harder, White spotted Cheren walking up to the three.

"Didn't expect to find you here of all places," he said bluntly, his face pretty much emotionless as he looked around the place.

"You can't talk," replied White, shaking her head. "Unless Bianca dragged you here, you would never come here."

"Well, she did, indirectly, I suppose." Cheren looked around a little, placing his hands on his hips and adjusting his glasses to his satisfaction. "I came here looking for her. I figured if I found her then you would soon follow."

"Fair enough." White shrugged. "We haven't seen her here, though. She'll probably show up eventually. Let's just hope that she hasn't gone in to see the musical. It doesn't end for an hour and a half, and then we have the extra time between now and the start."

"She already saw it yesterday, though…" muttered Cheren thoughtfully. "I think she'd be too fidgety to see it again, even if it does have a different theme. She'd probably get kicked out for annoying everyone."

White shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee, before holding it up towards her friend. "Want a sip?"

"You realise that if you take a sip of someone else's drink, you're effectively kissing them, right?" Leave it to Cheren to burst out facts that no one wants to know.

"Decent point," agreed White, though she would have preferred it if he'd kept his mouth shut. "Where else do we look, then?"

Cheren opened his mouth to answer, but was cut of by the yell of "Oh, my!" coming from behind him. Before he knew it, he was being shoved aside by a rather large man with an overly large smile that rivalled White's when she'd eaten too much ice-cream. "What an _adorable _Pokémon!" gushed the man, kneeling down and picking up Lillipup in his arms, who looked utterly confused. "Is it yours, young lady?"

"Uh, yeah, and she's a she, not an it," explained White, not too happy with her first impressions of the man. His looks didn't help either. He was obviously relatively old, though he seemed to think he was much younger than we was even though he dressed in a top hat, tuxedo and had a cane. It didn't match his personality at all, as he gave off the air of a gentlemanly-like figure until he began speaking. His voice was high-pitched and almost girly, _and _he was fussing over a Lillipup in high resemblance to a five-year-old girl.

"Oh, my apologies, young lady." The man bowed, though this just annoyed White more. "I wonder… may I have your name, miss?"

"White," she answered bluntly, not really caring for the man and wishing he would give her Lillipup back so she could get to looking for Bianca again.

"May I ask you a favour?" continued the man, scratching a rather confused Lillipup behind the ear. "One of my star dancers has called in sick and we're in desperate need of a replacement to participate in the upcoming musical. Your Lillipup would be perfect for the job, don't you think? Of course you do! Let's go!"

Before White could answer, she had her arm held in a death grip as she was dragged to the back of the musical hall and through a door into what seemed like a dressing room. There were numerous other people inside, all fussing over their pretty much perfect-looking Pokémon, making sure they looked more than perfect for the upcoming show. White's mouth dropped open, seeing how professional all the Pokémon looked. It was disgusting, in her eyes, anyway. Some of the Pokémon didn't even seem to be enjoying the grooming, especially when grooming involves getting shoved into dresses and grass skirts.

"Is this even _legal_?" asked White, her mouth still hanging open.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The man placed his hands across his chest and breathed an overly-happy sigh. "I have employed the most darling Pokémon to participate in my show! They are all top talent, and the Trainers aren't half bad, either."

And then he had White.

"Anyway, we need you all dressed up for the show…"

"Did I ever agree to this?"

"No, but there's no time to refuse. Besides, you have been asked by me, and there is no greater honour than being in one of my shows!"

_Wow, conceited much? _thought White, shaking her head impatiently. Before she could get any further in the action, however, she found herself being grabbed once again by the arm and dragged in front of a mirror.

"Ugh, get _off_!" she whined, slapping the perfectly-manicured hands that were now stroking her hair, pulling it out of the ponytail she previously had on. She felt a brush comb through it, which was annoying for her as, while she had washed her hair pretty much every night, she hadn't brushed it in Arceus knows how long.

Once the hair was done, she lifted her hand up to feel a long French braid down her back, almost reaching her waist. She growled, not really liking the feeling of having to keep her hair neat. She liked it in a ponytail; then she didn't have to worry about it.

"W-what do I do?" she asked the man in the top hat, who was now fussing over a few other girls.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Pokémon have a natural talent for performances. You just need to sit there and look pretty."

"Wow, this isn't demeaning to women at all…" muttered White, shaking her head shamefully, though she figured it was too late to back down now. She let out a laugh as she saw a girl trying to tie a ribbon to her Lillipup's tail, though the puppy wasn't making it very easy. "Here, lemme help."

"Thanks," said the girl, before standing up and bowing slightly. White noticed she was holding a relatively undersized Petilil in her arms. Jeez, all those elegant looking Pokémon and White had an overexcited puppy that was used to battling rather than dancing.

Before she knew it, White was standing on a stage in front of a curtain, watching her Lillipup dance, perfectly in-sync, with five other Pokémon. She had to admit; the man had been right. Lillipup was generally good at following along with other Pokémon, and mimicking their every action didn't seem that hard when she was doing it. White sighed with relief, wiping her forehead even though there was no sweat on it. She looked around her to see the other girls, all twirling around and conducting their own Pokémon, though she figured it was just an act so they didn't have to stand still. Their Pokémon weren't even looking at them, so it had to just be acting. Rolling her eyes, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible, White waved a limp arm—the one that wasn't numb from countless death-grips from other people—in attempt to look _slightly _part of the performance. If she had a choice, she would have run out of there straight away. Unfortunately, she was completely stuck.

It was to her horror that she looked down and saw Cheren and Black sitting in the crowd, waving at her. She smacked her forehead. They both had obviously forced smiles on their faces, well, Cheren did anyway. Black's was much less-than forced. In fact, this seemed to be the happiest moment of his life. Seeing his cousin, who he'd known so long as the determined, kickass girl that thinks she's bulletproof but actually isn't, participating in a Pokémon Musical, one of the most formal and expensive events in Unova must have been hilarious for him. She saw him mouth something like, "Work it, White!" to be responded by a painful glare from her which would have made him flinch back into his seat if he was in any danger of being hit by her at that moment.

-.-.-

"I. Fucking. Hate. You."

White, Black and Cheren were now sitting in the Pokémon Musical hall, and Black was holding White down while Cheren played the recorded tape of her performance.

"Of all the times you could choose to do something fun, Cheren, you choose _now_?" White growled.

"Hey, the opportunity was a once-in-a-lifetime." He shrugged, which only proved to strengthen White's glare.

"What do you know, White," said Black. "Maybe it was better that you didn't evolve Lillipup."

"I'm leaving," White stated, standing up and picking Lillipup off of the ground, who still had the ribbon tied around her tail along with numerous other beads and colours of glitter stuck to her fur. "We need to give you a bath. And find Bianca before she sees that tape."

"Oh, she'll be seeing it alright!" called Black, holding up the camera.

"And her and Cheren, along with the whole of Nimbasa City, will be seeing your tapes of back when you were ten and still scared of Wurmple!" White called back.

"H-hey, how do you have them?"

"I know people!" Black shot her a look that told her to tell the truth. "Alright, I'm in the same family as you, moron! Of course I have connections!"

Feeling relatively proud of her blackmailing skills, White pranced out of the musical theatre standing tall with her head held high. She felt like nothing could stop her now, especially not…

"Daddy?"

White's head turned up at Bianca's voice; the unmistakable, high-pitched sound that came out of the girl's mouth was able to be heard through even the densest of crowds. Sure enough, the blonde was standing in front of her father, looking a mix between surprised and horrified.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, though her voice told White that she already had an idea what he was there for, and it wasn't good. White had an idea, too. She knew what Bianca's dad could be like and how protective he could be, especially when it came to his own daughter.

"I've come to take you home, of course!" he declared, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't you think you've gone far enough? Nimbasa City is a long way from home."

"Exactly!" said Bianca, her face crinkling up like she was about to burst into tears. "I've come this far due to my Pokémon! I've become stronger, not just them! And White and Cheren, too, they've helped."

"Well, I don't see either of them around here, do I?" replied her father, looking around. "They're not here right now. I have no doubt that they've helped you, being the good friends that they are, but there is always going to be moments where you're on your own, like right now…"

"Wait!"

White pushed through the crowd and held a hand out, ready to place it on her friend's shoulder. She couldn't have Bianca go home! Not now, not ever! They were best friends, and flighty as she may be, Bianca was the first person White would go to if she was having problems. However, she went unnoticed as Bianca's dad was now turned to a woman behind him.

"Sweetie, you keep going on your travels," she said kindly, smiling sweetly at Bianca, who was on the verge of tears. Bianca's father seemed to be growing in anger.

"Who are you? You have no right to meddle with this family affair!" he snapped, but the woman didn't seem fazed and continued to stand tall. She was very pretty, White noticed. Her hair was blonde at the top, with a straight-cut fringe hanging over her face. She wore a pair of white headphones with two black wires hanging down from each ear. Her eyes were a brilliant blue, almost of resemblance to the sky, much unlike White's which were a darker shade. She was also tall, almost as tall as Bianca's dad, probably missing him only by around a centimetre.

"My name is Elesa, I am this city's Gym Leader," she explained. "You know, there are many kinds of people in this world, some whose thinking may be different from yours. Of course, that means you may sometimes get hurt."

"Exactly, and that's what I'm…"

"But, no matter what, it's important to always keep trying and learn about the differences. Learn to embrace them, then you may be able to connect with them for their differences. That's how friends are made. Trainers always have Pokémon at their sides, so they're never truly in danger. They protect their Pokémon and, in return, their Pokémon protect them."

_Learn about the differences…_ thought White, her mind absentmindedly wondering to the thought that she'd been trying desperately to keep bottled up all day. _And become… friends? Maybe… maybe N isn't so bad. I guess we have some things in common. Like Pokémon. We both have Pokémon at our sides…_ She looked up at Elesa, who was now talking to Bianca, whose father was nowhere in sight. _Maybe I've been focussing too much on our differences that I forgot about the things we could possibly have in common. When I put it that way, N isn't so bad…_

She pondered on this for a few more moments before she shook her head and walked up to Bianca's side, grasping her friend's hand and making her jump. Her father had left previously, apparently convinced from Elesa's talk.

"You two are friends?" asked Elesa, looking between the two. White and Bianca nodded simultaneously. "You appear to be Trainers. If you are, stop by my Gym some time. Maybe you'll give me a shock."

White didn't pay attention to her when she left. Instead, she turned to Bianca, who now had tears running down her face.

"T-that was c-close…" the blonde muttered. "I-I just want t-to travel together… that's my dream… then m-maybe I'll f-find out who I r-really want to b-be along the way…"

White didn't let her say any more. Instead pulled her friend into a hug and smiled, letting her cry into her shoulder.

"Don't worry, B.," she said, patting her on the back. "We're going to be travelling together for a really long time. I promise."

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**Misa: Done and dusted, that took forever… okay, it took four days, not including editing, but still. Anyway, I wanted to bring something up. I had a few people worrying that I'd stopped this story completely just because I haven't updated in three weeks, and while I'm very flattered that people actually care for this story (trust me, when I first put it up I wasn't expecting this at all…) I want to let you know that I have no plans on quitting this story until I finish it. If I do, I will have a legitimate reason and I will let you all know, so don't worry about that. Reason I know I won't be quitting is because I already have the final scene written out, plus numerous other scenes that I've had written since the beginning of this story, and I'm too keen to put those scenes in. I think I'd be letting myself down if I just quit out of the blue, and I'd never be able to live with myself. Anyway, thank you to all of the reviewers and the new favourites/followers. You guys are awesome! Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter and make sure to review!**


	19. A Shocking Battle

**Pokémon: Black and White**

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**Misa: Hey, hey! Chapter 19 is here, and we get some more creepiness from Ghetsis… Anyway, in case you haven't already noticed, I have rewritten chapters one through six. I went back and read them a few weeks ago and I just wasn't happy with them, so if you haven't read them already, you can go back now and read them. Or don't, it's your choice. Anywho, I don't own Pokémon, but what would I do with a job like that? I can't draw, I can't create music despite being a musician, and I suck with computers…**

**Wow, what a failure I am…**

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His red monocle glinted. His other eye shone with, for once, something that wasn't hatred. Something that wasn't bitter. Something that wasn't… evil. Instead, as he sat there, stirring sugar into his tea with his long, slender, bony fingers, what reflected in the eye not covered by the monocle was… curiosity. He was curious, which was odd for him, because he usually knew something the second he saw it. He wasn't one to have to reconsider something. No, once he'd made up his mind, the decision was final. His spoon cluttered, clashing with the patterned mahogany table as he placed the spoon down, before placing his hands on his chin and relaxing himself while he waited for his tea to cool. Yes, when he had to consider something before knowing without a doubt in his mind what was wrong with it, he knew there was something wrong.

And that was exactly what the girl did to him. The girl made him reconsider. The girl made him think. And it was the first time he'd sat at his table in the castle shrouded in darkness in awhile. He usually only sat there to think on his own. No one else knew of the room, not even the king, the one he was _meant _to be following. But how could he follow someone as childish as him? How could he put his heart and soul into _trusting _a person that actually didn't _hate _the girl that made him reconsider? He couldn't. It was impossible. Because he knew N didn't hate the girl. Quite the contrary, actually. He'd called her _interesting_. He'd called her _nice. _He'd told him that she wasn't like other Trainers. He'd called her _different._

That was what scared Ghetsis the most as he sat there in darkness. That was what caused a sliver of fear to run through his mind. No, not fear. He didn't fear for things. It was more like doubt. Yes doubt, almost as bad as fear, but doubt could be easily overcome. Why, if he feared something that wasn't dangerous in the first place, that didn't make things any better. Even if he doubted, she was still just a girl. She could do nothing to the hundreds of grunts he held at his disposal. Heck, if it got to that, he still had the rest of the Seven Sages and N, who would soon be invincible with the legendary dragon at his fingertips.

And if she managed by some ungodly chance to get past N, then she still had Ghetsis. Himself, the mastermind behind it all. The _genius_. Yes, he was a genius. He'd thought it all up. He'd plotted. He'd planned. And he'd waited. Waited for people gullible or desperate enough to come along and follow through with his plan. No one, especially not a mere teenage girl, would get through his plans. As if she thought she could, too. No, the only thing he had to worry about was the second legendary dragon; Reshiram, the one who would rise from the ashes at the last minute and attempt to destroy the hero of Zekrom. Of course, that person didn't know they were the hero so far, so what did he have to worry about?

Nothing. That's right. _Nothing._ Nothing would stop his plans. Nothing would get past him. And nothing would get in his way of his new world. He _would _succeed, and he'd never doubted that. He laughed slightly, picking up the teacup and taking a tentative sip of the tea held in it. Ah, so much better than the tea the servants had brought in for him the previous day. That was good, but it wasn't made by him. This tea was, just like everything else he did, _perfection_.

The real interest began when three shadows appeared in front of him, their white hair blowing in the shadows even though there was no wind to blow them. They were almost invisible in the darkness, their costumes blended into the blackness of the room. But that only made their faces and hair stand out more. If they didn't want to be seen, they wouldn't have been. Except by Ghetsis, for he had learned to see them even when they were unseeable to the naked eye. He looked down at them as they dropped to their knees and bowed. He watched them with all his attention and stood up again. They were the only beings that were allowed to stand up without his permission. He couldn't exactly punish them, anyway. They had no feeling, so yelling or insulting wouldn't work. They were too quick for him to throw a punch and actually hit them enough to hurt them.

Even through this, Ghetsis knew they were his most loyal servants. He knew that, because of their lack of feeling and his lack of punishments for them, they had their own free will. Yet still, they decided to follow him, to take after his every move. To serve him to his own satisfaction. He liked that. More, he was satisfied by that, because Ghetsis didn't really like anything. The closest anyone could get to him was him having a neutral feeling towards them, and what an honour it would be to have him not hate them. If he didn't feel neutral towards a person, then the relationship only got worse from there.

"What news do you bring me?" he asked, taking another short sip of his tea. The Shadow Triad stayed silent for a moment, observing Ghetsis as much as they could, who didn't get impatient. He knew they would give him the news. Yelling at them would only make them take longer and make him lose his temper quicker.

"We come with news about our lord N," they chorused in monotone, none of them moving other than their lips parting and joining again in perfect sync. Even Ghetsis was not sure how they did it. They were, in a way, the same people. They were also, in a way, not people at all, just beings of shadows that had split apart into three different souls. Ghetsis didn't mind, though. It just made them that much easier to control.

"About our _lord_?" asked Ghetsis, though the word "lord" had a slight sarcastic sneer to it, like he was mocking the word. Like it didn't deserve to be said by his dirty mouth. The Shadow Triad nodded before continuing.

"Yes. Lord N has met up with the girl again," they explained, their tone not changing at all as the words were said. Ghetsis' attention was rising with each word, his ears becoming more in tune by the second. "He had ordered for us to follow her, which we have been doing. She is a very strange one. She says she hates him, but she seems to have more of a neutral feeling. We believe she is just in-denial. She had chased some of our grunts into the amusement park when they tried to steal from an old man, and she found N there."

"Interesting…" muttered Ghetsis, the word dripping out of his mouth like grease. "She doesn't hate him, does she? Well, I guess it's better than her liking him. That would cause some problems and she may find out. Tell me more."

"I am afraid the finding out part is already too late." Ghetsis raised an eyebrow, his uncovered eye widening as he continued to sip at his tea. "He told her he would help her find the grunts, when really he was just steering her attention away for the night. He succeeded in doing that, but then the two entered the Ferris wheel. It seems N had sworn to himself to tell her of his… secret, but he hesitated a lot. Eventually, however, it came to a point in their conversation where he got a little annoyed at her and ended up spitting it out."

"_What_?" Ghetsis almost spit out his tea, and he slammed the cup onto the ground, causing the contents to spill all over the perfectly clean mahogany and into the patterns that were carved into it. "She knows? How can this…?"

"She took it pretty well," they continued, ignoring Ghetsis' reaction. "Her feelings showed that she didn't feel any different about him even though she said she hated him more. She did seem a little taken aback, however, but all in all it doesn't seem she sees him as anything more or less than she did before."

"So this may not be a big toll on our behalf… I see."

"But what did rise was her determination, which was already high. It seems now that she is putting more and more of her efforts into stopping our plans from succeeding. Do not underestimate her." The Shadow Triad finished and bowed once more, before vanishing into thin air. Ghetsis didn't call them back, however. He knew that if he needed them again then they would come as soon as he did.

But the girl, she actually knew of N's leadership? For some reason, he though he would have thought worse of this, but he found himself realising he saw this coming. If anyone was going to find out, then it would be the girl. The nosy, horrid little brat. He didn't feel like going out and murdering her on the spot. Actually, he wanted to find out even more now what the fate of the girl would be. Getting involved with Ghetsis, however, and her fate would not be good for her. He found his curiosity rising, and he even found himself _smiling _slightly. In a few seconds, he was laughing loudly, the sounds echoing through the room and only serving to become louder as they did so. After a few seconds, he stopped, placing his balled fists down on the table and staring straight ahead of him, his eyes squinted and his mouth planted on a smirk.

"Well, this will be interesting now, won't it?"

-.-.-

"Rollercoasters? _Really?_"

White hadn't felt this weirded out since her battle against Burgh in the Gym full of honey, and even then she'd thought that that Gym would be the last one to have some insane maze or puzzle that would have to be completed. But no, obviously she was wrong. She didn't know what she was thinking. The first two Gyms had been normal, but she was beginning to believe that the Gym Leaders past Lenora were ever-so-slightly out of their minds. And Elesa was no exception, for she had a Gym full of rollercoasters, the colourful lights flashing neon through the wires that controlled them, lighting up what would otherwise be a pitch black room due to its lack of windows.

"This. Is. _Awesome_!" yelled Black, jumping up and down a little and reminding White of an overexcited three year old about to go on the roundabout at an amusement park. Of course Black had the opposite opinion to her on this; he usually did when it came to most things. But White came for a Gym battle, not a rollercoaster ride. If she wanted that then she would have gone into the actual amusement park.

"Stop being so childish," she snapped, staring at the rides as they rotated around the rails, one stopping every-so-often at the station on their platform. "This is ridiculous. They spend more time building the Gyms than they do on the actual battles!"

"Oh, lighten up and have a little fun for once," retorted Black. White just scowled, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up as she stood there, cross armed, tapping her foot impatiently and rolling her eyes; the usual position she stood in when she was around Black.

"You sound like Bianca," she replied, shaking her head at his childishness. Black whined, grabbing her arm and tugging her over to the car that had now stopped at their platform.

"Come on, just this once," he said, shoving her down to take a seat in the car. "You want a battle, don't you?"

"Yeah, but…"

Before White could get out a decent answer, the words she was beginning to say got shoved down her throat as the glass case over the top of the rollercoaster car sealed over them and the ride kicked into action. She heard Black scream with excitement, where as White herself was just busy trying to cough her words back up again before she choked on them. The neon lights didn't help, either. The flashing array of pink, yellow and green hurt her eyes as she flew past to the next platform.

Fortunately for her, the ride stopped almost as soon as it had begun, and she stumbled out of it, her eyes spinning and her body wobbling, still coughing like mad as she tried to spit up the rest of her sentence. Black was looking exhilarated, and he leaped out of the ride and eyed the next car that was quickly darting around the corner towards them. White would have seen it, or rather, she did, but she mistook it for something of the many things flying around her eyesight that didn't belong there and, quite frankly, didn't exist at all.

"This shouldn't be legal…" she grumbled, clutching onto Black's shoulder to catch the breath that she'd left behind at the start of the ride. Unfortunately, steadying herself on her cousin wasn't the best thing for her to do, and she soon found this out when he grabbed her wrist and tugged the still dizzy girl over to the next car, which was now pulling to a stop on the platform.

From experience, White now knew to never open her mouth to speak or take a breath before a ride skidded to a start, and this time she settled for taking a massive breath before even stepping into the vehicle and holding it until the ride halted again on the next platform. If dizziness for her opponents was what Elesa was trying to acquire by doing this, then she'd had that in the bag since day one, but White knew now that she had to beat her even more if not for her pride and dignity, which were also a few things she'd left back at the start of the ride.

As soon as she stepped off of this car however, placing her already exhausted feet onto solid land once more, the feeling was different. Different because she was even more annoyed about getting a challenge almost before the glass case sealing her inside the vehicle even opened entirely. A kid, looking around ten to twelve, was looking down at her pale green face along with a Blitzle standing beside him, looking equally as eager to battle.

"Aren't these rollercoasters great?" he said happily, giving White a thumbs-up as soon as her stumbling form stepped out of the car. "They really make your head spin! I can do that to you, too. I'll shock you even more!"

It must have been in some sort of rule book, White thought, for all of the Gym Trainers in Elesa's Gym had to give a really annoying pun about electricity every sentence, if not every half-sentence. White had heard Elesa saying something like, "Maybe you can give me a jolt!" when she'd met her with Bianca. Everyone did it, and it only served to make this Gym about ten times more annoying.

"Fine, but make it snappy," she said, pulling out Lillipup's Pokéball; she figured she was the one who needed most Training, especially if she was going to be the ace-in-the-hole against that Gym in particular. "Lillipup, stand guard!"

"And I'll use Blitzle!"

Another thing, along with the ten others, that made this Gym annoying for White was the added light affects when the Electric Pokémon began battling; the walls in the Gym acted like mirrors, so every time an Electric move hit one of them, it bounced off and back in the direction it came until it fizzled out into nothing. This, of course, added to the blinding neon lights that came from the rollercoasters, and White would have been surprised if she came out of the Gym _not _entirely blinded.

Other than not being able to see half the time, the battle went quite smoothly, resulting in Lillipup showing her strength against the Blitzle, who seemed to be taking her lighter than it should have and even laughing at her cuteness at times.

"I'll remind you that just because a Pokémon doesn't have a determined nature doesn't mean it's weak!" called White, as she clambered into the next rollercoaster after Black. The kid scowled a little, but his face brightened back to its usual self as soon as she left; apparently he couldn't be left down in the dumps for long enough to actually affect him properly.

The next battle was a little harder due to White almost being scared half to death by a girl in a fancy dress that White couldn't have afforded with her life savings plus the money she would receive for selling all of her belongings. If the money the dress would have costed wasn't enough, the fact that the girl had leaped out of the rollercoaster that her and Black were about to enter didn't help, and Black had also been scared enough to have a good argument with the girl about heart attacks, much to White's amusement.

All the other battles weren't bad, even the second person who jumped out of the car, as White and Black were prepared for it this time. Finally, after what seemed like much too long for White, whose head was still knocked around and shaky after all of the rollercoaster rides, including a loop-de-loop that she hadn't been expecting at all due to her eyes being shut tight to avoid motion sickness, they finally stepped off at the final platform, where a delighted-looking Elesa stood, her smile almost as bright as all of the lights filling her Gym.

"So, how were my rollercoasters?" she asked, but before White could answer with "Terrible," she cut in, "They're my pride and joy! Did they make your head spin? If not, I'll finish the job for you. I, Elesa, accept your challenge! We will have a best of three battle; whoever wins two out of three wins the entire match, that sound okay?"

White nodded, glad that the Gym Leader seemed slightly determined about the battle and not just her amazing rollercoasters. She waited for Elesa to send out her Pokémon first to see what Pokémon she should use; she had to be careful in a Gym where two thirds of her Pokémon were weak to the Gym Leader. Elesa's first Pokémon was Emolga, and the little black and yellow flying squirrel looked positively delighted about it, instantly proceeding to fly around happily in the air crying out its name. White laughed slightly, before sending out Tranquill, due to him having the upper hand over the rest of White's Pokémon against Emolga.

"Flying-type?" questioned Elesa, turning her head to the side and raising an eyebrow. "That's an odd choice. Don't you have other Pokémon you can use?"

"I do," said White, though her "other usable Pokémon" list consisted only of Lillipup, unless you count Dewott, but she, also, was weak to Electric, "but I want to give my other Pokémon a go, too."

"Alright, suit yourself." Elesa shrugged, and White got a little annoyed at her attitude; did she think type advantages were everything? White had strategy to overcome the fact that she didn't have a type advantage; that was the reason she hadn't caught a Sandile back in the desert.

"I guess I'll start off, then," said White. "Tranquill, use Quick Attack!"

"Emolga, you use Quick Attack, too!" called Elesa. White scowled; was she just going to use her own strategies the whole time? Luckily, Tranquill seemed to have the upper hand at the time, but White wasn't sure for how long.

"Fly up!" ordered White, pointing toward the sky. Tranquill obeyed, swooping up into the air just as Emolga shot straight for it, leaving the little Electric-type looking around confusedly, searching for where the bird had flown. White smirked. "Now, use Air Cutter!"

Tranquill flapped its wings, shooting wisps of swirling air blades cutting through the air, crashing down on Emolga from above. Even through the massive hit, however, it still didn't do a very large amount, and Emolga managed to glide straight back up into the sky after shrugging off the hit like it was nothing.

"Emolga, give 'em a Volt Switch!" called Elesa, laughing off White's attack, causing the brunette to scowl irritably.

"Dodge with Quick Attack, Tranquill!" ordered White, and Tranquill let out a screech before diving down quickly and flying across the bottom of the platform as close to the ground as he could, dodging the sparkling ball of electricity that had been shot at him from Emolga. The ball of light hit the ground, though the platform didn't seem to take any visible damage. White did feel the ground shake beneath her, however, which made her feel uneasy since they were elevated off of the ground by nothing but pillars

"Volt switch again, Emolga!" ordered Elesa, and this time Tranquill was to busy redeeming his height from the drop to dodge the ball of electricity and instead flew straight towards it.

"No, Tranquill!" yelled White, but Tranquill managed to shrug the hit off and ascended into the air again, though not undamaged. His right wing seemed limp, and he appeared to be struggling to keep himself in the air as his left wig had to do most of the work. "Tranquill, use… wait, what?" White's mouth dropped open as Elesa held out Emolga's Pokéball and recalled it. "Hey, you're not…"

"Actually, I am." Elesa smirked. "Volt switch allows the Pokémon using to switch with another Pokémon automatically. Neither of us is allowed to switch out, but it's a nice little loophole for me. You have to keep Tranquill in, but whatever Pokémon you take out with Tranquill will count as your knockout for that specific Pokémon."

"Right…" muttered White, thinking it was a pretty cheep move, but she had to go along with it. "Why didn't it work the first time?"

"It only works if the hit lands. Anyway, I guess I'll send out… Emolga!"

"Another Emolga?" White groaned, her mouth dropping open. "Anyway, when I get to the second Emolga, I guess it'll be weaker, so that'll help me."

"You figured it out then." Elesa laughed slightly. "If I am reduced to sending out my injured Pokémon, you'll have the upper hand. You have to actually _get _to the injured Pokémon first."

"Dammit…" grumbled White. "Tranquill, use Quick Attack again!"

"Quick Attack too, Emolga!"

The next few minutes were a battle of speed, each side's Pokémon dancing and swooping around each other in the sky, neither side showing any signs of giving in. White thought that Tranquill had taken the Volt Switch pretty well, considering it was a direct hit with a type disadvantage, but White was beginning to doubt herself.

_No_, she thought, shaking her head. _I will not lose!_ "Tranquill, use…" White stopped when she realised that, upon diving down low on the ground and suddenly ascending into the air again, the wind around his wings was visible and shooting past it, like the bird was cutting through the air as it flew. With one quick movement, it crashed into Emolga with amazing force and accuracy.

"Is that… Arial Ace?" muttered Elesa. "But Tranquill can only use that move via special training, how…?"

"I guess my Tranquill is just special, then," said White proudly, placing her hands on her hips and standing tall, though she too was slightly surprised. "Alright, Tranquill, let's give 'em another Arial Ace!"

Emolga, being unable to tell where Tranquill was going to strike from, was unable to dodge the attack and was stuck upon from below, taking the blow to the flaps of skin that were keeping it airborne. It cried out painfully, falling to the ground and landing there with a small _thud_.

"One more Quick Attack, Tranquill!" yelled White, her heart pounding. "Maybe I can actually win this…"

With that, Emolga was taken down, and Elesa reluctantly recalled it.

"That was… surprising…" she said, before pulling out her next Pokémon.

"Tran!" cooed Tranquill, fluttering down to White and landing on her shoulder. White scratched him on the head before returning him to his Pokéball.

"Awesome job, seriously," she said gratefully, before pulling out her next Pokémon. Trainer and Gym Leader both released their Pokémon at the same time; Lillipup and the Emolga that Elesa had already used.

"A Lillipup, at this stage?" muttered Elesa. "This girl is crazy… though I guess I said that about her when she used Tranquill, too. I can't underestimate her."

"Hey, Sparky, we gonna battle or what?" called White. Elesa raised an eyebrow.

"Sparky?" she whispered, before laughing to herself. Admittedly, she was having fun battling this girl; more than she'd expected to. "Alright, then, Emolga, start this up with Volt Switch!"

"We can't let it hit, Lillipup!" called White, and Lillipup yapped loudly, leaping somewhat gracefully out of the way of the sparking ball of electricity, before bounding off of the wall and biting down on Emolga's flesh, following White's next command. The Emolga screeched, but when it shut its eyes, sparks came out of its little yellow cheeks and crawled their way around Lillipup, stunning it. The puppy's eyes widened and it froze and fell to the floor, paralysed.

"Ha, that's my girl, Emolga!" cheered Elesa, punching the air happily. "In case you didn't know, White, my Emolga has the ability Static, which paralyses Pokémon if they stay in contact with it for too long, and Lillipup fell into that trap!"

"Dammit…" grumbled White, though Lillipup still looked able to move, though her speed had fallen a considerable amount and she seemed to be struggling to move. "Lillipup, are you okay to go on?"

"Pup!" barked Lillipup, though she had noticeably less pep in her bark than would usually show.

"That's the spirit! Right, use Take Down!"

Unfortunately for the challengers, the paralysis was taking a toll on Lillipup's health, and the poor puppy was unable to move as quick as she usually would have been able to, causing her to miss Emolga by a mile. White groaned as her Pokémon got hit with a direct Quick Attack. Then another. Then _another_, and White realised after awhile that she wasn't going to get past Emolga's speed as long as her Pokémon was paralysed.

Before she could think about this for too long, however, Lillipup took a massive hit from Volt Switch, which took it down entirely. White groaned, rushing up to pick up her Pokémon, who looked a little guilty. She whined a little, as if trying to apologise to her Trainer.

"Don't worry, girl," said White, laughing slightly. "You did well. You're an awesome Pokémon, seriously, that speed just got the best of you."

"Pup," yipped Lillipup, licking White on the face, causing a playful giggle to escape her mouth.

"Now, return and take a good rest." White returned Lillipup to her Pokéball before facing Elesa once more. This was not good for her. If she lost this last battle, she would be done. All she had left was Dewott, and she had a weakness to Electric. What's more, it was without a doubt that Elesa had something special shoved up her sleave as her final Pokémon. White glared at her opponent, before pulling out Dewott's Pokéball.

"It's all yours, buddy," she muttered, a glimmer of hope buried into her voice. She hurled the Pokéball into the air just as Elesa did hers. Dewott landed on the ground, glaring at the opponent now materialising into the air, which took the form of a zebra with a bolt for a tail; Zebstrika. Dewott didn't look intimidated at all, even though Zebstrika had a good few inches on her and generally had more odds of winning than she did. Rather, she looked determined. Determined to win for her Trainer. Determined to not let her down. White felt bad knowing how terrible her Pokémon would feel if she lost.

"Alright, Zebstrika, Flame Charge!"

Flame Charge? That was an odd move to start off with. White assumed Zebstrika knew Electric-type moves, so why would it start of with Flame Charge, a move that Dewott would resist.

"Dewott, counter with Razor Shell!"

Dewott lunged forward, fearlessly clashing into the Electric-type, which was now cloaked in red hot flames. This didn't bother her, however, as she took much less damage than a different typed Pokémon would take. She landed on the ground after absorbing the Flame Charge like it was nothing. Zebstrika seemed to come out worse, with a small cut down its leg where the shell had slashed into its flesh.

"Flame Charge again, Zeb!" commanded Elesa, seeming rather amused at White's still confused face.

It was then that White realised that this time the Zebstrika was much faster than it had been the previous time. Flame Charge raised speed, so if the Zebstrika used that enough times, then it would easily be fast enough to make it so Dewott couldn't do anything against it enough to even get a hit in.

"Dodge, Dewott, then strike from above with Water Gun!"

Dewott leaped out of the way, before extinguishing the flames charging at him with a jet of water. She then smashed down on Zebstrika with a Tackle, delivering a crushing blow. Even so, Zebstrika got up again, though it did have a noticeable energy loss.

"Zeb, use Charge!" yelled Elesa, and Zebstrika was cloaked in electricity, and bolts that seemed to come out of nowhere were stabbing into it until its body became cloaked with a yellow light. "Now, use Spark!"

"Dodge, Dewott!" yelled White, somewhat desperately, and her Pokémon narrowly leaped out of the way of the incoming attack. As soon as she was in the air, however, she was vulnerable. Elesa and Zebstrika seemed to know this, and also know how to take advantage of it. Zebstrika, obviously having done this more than once, charged straight at the wall, kicked its hooves off of it, propelling itself into the air and crashing straight into the airborne Dewott. White screamed, hoping her Pokémon wasn't too hurt. She found herself not caring about the battle anymore. She just hoped Dewott would be okay. She'd never taken this much damage before.

Smoke clouded the area where Dewott had hit the ground, making the waiting for the end scene even more painful to White's eyes. To her surprise, however, when the smoke began to clear, she saw the shadow of a clearly standing Dewott in the middle of it. She was breathing heavily, clutching onto her legs in order to remain standing. But she was still there, a determined look in her eyes.

"Huh, she's still standing?" muttered Elesa, before shrugging. "Alright, we'll just finish it off here. Zebstrika, use…!"

"No, stop!"

White dived into the battle scene, throwing her arms protectively around Dewott. She glared at Elesa angrily for even _considering _attacking her Pokémon that was obviously already hurt enough. She didn't care if Dewott was still willing to go on. She didn't care if Elesa was willing to take her down then and there. She didn't care that by doing this she was instantly losing. She cared way too much about Dewott—her partner and friend—to let that happen. Elesa raised an eyebrow, before smiling slightly.

"That was a good thing to do, White," she said, walking up to her. Dewott didn't seem happy about the decision, and her eyes were fixed on White, though not angry. More confused. She knew White was her friend, but she didn't realise that she would have willingly taken the hit from Zebstrika for her. If she were any later, she would have been hit with the attack from the opponent. Instead, she had gotten to her just in time, too soon for the Zebstrika to begin charging up for its final attack.

"We… forfeit," whispered White, standing up. She looked down at Dewott, smiling slightly. "I'm not going to let her go down like that. Not saying she's weak, but I knew she wasn't going to take another hit. Any hit would be a massive overkill. So, you win…"

White couldn't believe what she'd just done. She'd… lost. She'd actually lost. She _never _lost. And now she finally realised what Black had been saying about her overconfidence. But confidence didn't make her an idiot. Especially when confidence would hurt her partner. She realised then that she knew where to draw the line, and it was probably a good thing to know that.

But that didn't stop her from feeling utterly heartbroken.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. -.-.-.-.**

**Misa: Oh, no, White lost! Uh, yeah, I've been planning this for awhile… I was going to have her lose to Skyla, but I never lost to her in-game. What I did lose to were those damn Emolga, ugh, they're annoying. They have those cute little faces, staring at you, asking to be your friend, then… BAM!** **Instant downfall. Uh, yeah. Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter and make sure to review!**


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